Few clouds, calm and a couple fresh inches. Ruby Range.

CB Avalanche Center2018-19 Observations

Location: Kebler Pass Area
Date of Observation: 01/13/2019
Name: Evan Ross

Subject: Few clouds, calm and a couple fresh inches. Ruby Range.
Aspect: North East, East, South East
Elevation: 10,500-13,000

Avalanches:

Small sluffs

Weather: Few clouds and calm winds. That sun was out in force, but air temps still felt cool.

Snowpack: No formal stability tests preformed, and no obvious signs to instability observed. Used a snowmobile on steep, easterly, convex slopes between 10,000 and 11,000ft with no obvious sings to instability. Skied aggressive NE and E facing terrain in the alpine with no obvious sings to instability. Managed terrain with trigger points and additional wind-loading in mind.

2-3″ of new, very light snow, was evenly distributed in the terrain. On wind-exposed ridge lines this most recent snow hadn’t been blown around. The main wind-loading in the terrain came from the 1/6 storm and its westerly winds. NE slopes got the most loading. S slopes had both been blown up, and cross loaded. West slopes were windblown near rigeline, but had good coverage lower on slopes with wind-texture on the surface. NE slopes had some wind pillows, but cornices were surprisingly small. The last round of E to NE winds drifted an extra inch back the other way but it didn’t matter.

Below the 2-3″ of new snow, the 1/6 snow felt dense with ski pen around 10cm.

Photos:

Smaller then average cornices on this NE terrain at 13,000ft that has big fetches on both its south and west sides.