Date of Observation: 12/06/2021
Name: Eric Murrow
Zone: Northwest Mountains
Route Description: Westerly terrain near Elkton on Anthracite Mesa high point (Elkton Knob) . Traveled in near treeline elevation band on west and northwest aspects.
Observed avalanche activity: No
Avalanches: Pushed on a short but steep northwest-facing feature at 11,100 feet and got a very small facet sluff to run a short distance and entrain much of the shallow snowpack.
Weather: Thin, high clouds began to move in by midday. Generally light westerly winds with some moderate gusts.
Snowpack: I have not traveled across many westerly aspects over the recent dry spell so the goal of this trip was to check out some west through northwest features near treeline. All features just north of due west were very weak with just a thin melt-freeze crust or were fully dry. Snowpack ranged from 30 – 60cm deep. Surface Hoar was sporadically present on these windward slopes and generally around 5mm in size. As aspect rolled from due west to southwest, the snow surface went from a thin crust to presumably thicker crusts and then quickly to mostly bare dirt on southwest.
Photos:
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- A tiny facet sluff on a northwest-facing slope at 11,100 feet. This terrain is commonly beat up by the wind, but right now it is very weak with sporadic Surface Hoar present.
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- Intact surface hoar (~5mm in size) on a fairly exposed northwest-facing feature at 11,100 feet.
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- This image of west-facing terrain by Irwin was taken after my Elkton tour, but it shows thin coverage on due west that quickly disappears as soon as the slope rotates towards the southwest.
