Date of Observation: 02/04/2022
Name: Eric Murrow
Zone: Southeast Mountains
Route Description: Southeast end of Whetstone
Observed avalanche activity: Yes
Avalanches: We skier triggered a couple of Loose Dry avalanches on steep northeast and east-facing terrain near treeline. One reached D1.5 in size.
Weather: Cold temps at all elevations and very light winds.
Snowpack: Same ol’ story on northeast and east slopes with around 8 inches of weak surface snow for loose avalanches to entrain. As you move to the sunny side of the east aspect the volume available greatly decreases.
I descended the start zone of a southeast, near treeline feature and found 1 to 2 inches of low-density snow sitting on a supportive-to-skis crust. Surprisingly, the snow surface was more or less dry at 1 pm; cold temps balanced out the solar input to keep the surface dry.
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- A Loose Dry avi from an east-facing gully. This confining feature allowed this sluff to accelerate quickly and gain mass. Not big enough to bury you but certainly take you for a ride.
