Date of Observation: 12/30/2021
Name: Eric Murrow
Zone: Southeast Mountains
Route Description: Standard skin track up and traversed above 1st and 2nd bowls on the north side. Descended my up-track down to the trailhead.
Observed avalanche activity: Yes
Avalanches: I inspected several previously reported avalanches on northerly slopes from 12/27 (likely ran on 12/24) and found around 2 feet of low-density snow accumulated on bed surfaces. I purposely traveled above 1st and 2nd bowls to look at slopes that avalanched during 12/9-10 cycle to find out if these slopes avalanched again, and, to my surprise, these slopes appeared to be holding all of the storm snow since 12/23.
Weather: Overcast skies with continuous light snowfall from 11am-4pm. Around 4pm snowfall rates increased. Winds were generally very light between 9,600 – 11,100 feet. Trees at the summit of Snodgrass were holding lots of snow.
Snowpack: No signs of instability during the tour, I traveled off the beaten track in several areas on sunny and shady slopes. I dug a profile on a southeasterly slope at 10,400 feet and found a sensitive storm snow interface around a foot below the surface but did not experience any cracking underfoot. A second interface, in the middle of the snowpack, was softer than layers above and below but did not produce propagating results. Snow depths on northeast through east through southeast slopes ranged from 130cm to 180cm.
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- Previously reported natural avalanche, that likely failed 12/24, accumulated around 2 feet of new snow on bed surface.
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- A very easy result in a Shovel Tilt Test around foot below the surface.
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- Lots of snow sitting in the trees at the summit of Snodgrass. This indicates the relatively light winds at this location over the past several days.
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- Test profile from a sunny slope below treeline. No propagating results, but layers of softer snow could produce avalanches with additional loading.
