Date of Observation: 12/29/2021
Name: Eric Murrow
Zone: Southeast Mountains
Route Description: Washington Gulch TH to Anthracite mesa. Ascended low-angle east and northeast slopes to ridgetop. Avoided being on or underneath avalanche terrain.
Observed avalanche activity: No
Avalanches: None observed. Brief views of SW side of Snodgrass and steep, leeward northeasterly shots immediately above Long Lake. Mother nature teased me several times with fuzzy views of Gothic, but never clear enough to read the snow surface.
Weather: Very consistent light snowfall (S1) from 11 – 330. Winds were blowing around 10 mph with gusting to around 20 mph on ridgetop at 10,500 feet. Some efficient loading was observed on to northeast-facing lee slopes.
Snowpack: I mostly traveled on east and northeast slopes below treeline and a few small southeast-facing slopes. No collapsing or cracking observed. Strong, supportive slabs 100-130cm thick exist over weak snow near the ground on northeast and east terrain. Stability tests indicated unstable conditions (see profile). I stomped, ski stabbed, and boot packed into the weak layer above two suspect northeast slopes without result. On southeast features, the snowfall from December has largely fallen on bare dirt with intermittent crusts at the ground.
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- Test profile illustrates obvious strong slab resting over weak snow near the ground. Propagating test results under moderate force.
