Date of Observation: 11/18/2022
Name: Zach Guy Zach Kinler
Zone: Northwest Mountains
Route Description: Upper East River, Nirvana Bowl on Baldy
Observed avalanche activity: Yes
Avalanches: Observed a D1.5 Wind Slab that likely ran yesterday or overnight. Ski-triggered another Wind Slab from ridgeline adjacent to the natural. This one propagated a bit wider and reached D2 size entraining the softer snow in wind-protected terrain as it ran around 600 ft. Debris was up to 5 ft deep.
Weather: Partly Cloudy, felt like January, light NW winds with moderate gusts.
Snowpack: We traveled primarily on S and SE aspects near and above treeline. 4-5 inches of low-density, faceting snow is resting on crusts from earlier in November. As we gained elevation towards the ridge a thin wind crust was present on the surface. Closer to the ridge the wind crust grew to an obviously thicker slab up to 18″ thick. Northerly winds caused off-and-on snow transport onto southerly aspects.
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- Debris from a natural D1.5 wind slab. ESE ATL
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- Recent northerly winds have been moving snow onto southerly slopes at upper elevations.
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- Skier-triggered Wind Slab, SE aspect ATL
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- Crown was up to 18″ thick and pencil hard
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- Looking down the debris from the skier triggered Wind Slab
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- Debris was up to 5ft deep and ran 600ft.
