Date of Observation: 01/05/2022
Name: Evan Ross
Zone: Northwest Mountains
Route Description: Primarily Elkton and Baldy Area
Observed avalanche activity: No
Weather: Bit breezy eh. Obscured sky and strong westerly wind. Mostly S-1 and light snowfall. Heavier rimed precip was accumulating as I headed out in the early afternoon.
Snowpack: Hard to measure new snow given all the wind. In a fairly sheltered area at 11,000ft, there was about 6″ new at 1pm. The new snow was very light and mostly getting blown away. I was able to find a couple of small test slopes where the new snow would produce some shooting cracks and holding up as a fresh wind slab. Otherwise, the snow has already been redistributed from the winds with old hard drifts having previously formed. More forecasted snow will provide more fuel for new wind slab development. It was real blustery out there at near and above treeline elevations and managing wind drifted snow was still one of the main concerns.