Name: Chad Reich
Title: Skiing
Location: Crested Butte Area
Date of Observation: 12/17/2014
Aspect: South East
Elevation: 12,400
Avalanches: Observed 2 slides that had already happened on Axtel’s north face below the Wang Chung face, but we couldn’t tell if they were natural or skier-triggered. They were each R1’s, but they would probably have been big enough to injure or kill a skier.
Weather: Lightly snowing (>s1), with strong and sustained winds on the upwards of 20 mph coming from the N. Despite the winds, no cross/lee loading was observed, but it was snowing….Temps were about 20 at the TH and 10 at the summit.
Snowpack: About 4-6″ of new, unconsolidated pow on top of a firm, supportable crust. No high speed sloughing observed on the way down.