Date of Observation: 12/12/2015
Name: Zach Guy
Aspect: West
Elevation: Near treeline
Avalanches: We remotely triggered one small slide, about 30 feet wide, from about 75 feet away. It was a thin hardslab (3″ to 8″ thick) over fist hard facets, which gouged down deeper after failure. HS-ASr-R1-D1-O
Weather: Very light to no snowfall through the day, with no accumulation. Calm winds. Overcast skies.
Snowpack: 2″ to 3″ of new snow was a non-issue for storm instabilities. No snow transport. On westerly aspects near treeline, the snowpack was shallow and mostly faceted (2-3mm, Fist hard), with thin hardslabs or windcrusts capping the snowpack below the new snow in some of the more wind affected areas. We consistently found clean shears and propagating test results at this interface between 1F wind packed rounds and F facets, generally 10-20 cm deep. A few deeper pockets in isolated drifts.
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