Zone: Southeast Mountains
Location: Happy Chutes, Mount Emmons
Date of Observation: 12/01/2020
Name: Zach Guy and Zach Kinler
Subject: Unhappy Chutes
Aspect: North East, East
Elevation: 9,000 – 10,300
Avalanches:
Intentionally triggered several long-running dry loose avalanches, large enough to drag or carry someone (D1.5). The slides entrained the entire snowpack (about a foot deep) and ran about 1000 vertical feet.
Weather: Mostly cloudy, light northerly winds, very light snowfall.
Snowpack: A shallow, weak mess. Snow depth is about a foot deep, almost entirely fist hard, 1 to 1.5 mm facets. The surface is 5 – 15 mm surface hoar (upright and intact) covered by the inch of snow that fell this morning. On east to southeast aspects, there is a decaying melt-freeze crust midpack which disappears as you tilt north. Yep, buried surface hoar on facets on a crust – nasty!
Photos:
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- Surface hoar buried by an inch of snow this morning
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- Very weak snow surface
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- Very weak snow surface
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- Facet sluff pouring over a rock band
