Close

Professional Observation

Basic Information

Observation Details

Observation Date:
January 9, 2020
Submitted:
January 9, 2020
Observer:
SAC - Martin Stefan
Zone or Region:
Galena Summit and Eastern Mtns
Location:
Gladiator

Signs of Unstable Snow

Recent Avalanches? 
None Observed
Cracking? 
Isolated
Collapsing? 
None Experienced
Fresh wind slabs on hard wind buff cracked up to 15' at high elevation

Snow Stability

Stability Rating: 
Fair
Confidence in Rating: 
Moderate
Stability Trend: 
Steady

Bottom Line

I observed early december buried surface hoar, weak facets under the New Year's storm and weak snow near the ground in this area too, especially at high elevations. In particular the surface hoar at higher elevations where wind has been loading seems strained here, giving snappy results on my tests.

Advanced Information

Weather Summary

Cloud Cover:
Mostly Cloudy
Temperature:
teens
Wind:
Light , W

Clouds and squalls on snow moving in and out, but no significant accumulation during the day. One to two inches of accumulation since yesterday.

Snowpack Observations

Snowpack at mid and low elevation very rotten, to the point of making uphill travel outside of established skin track difficult.

12/7 is present at mid elevation S 1/4 giving for the most part clean hand shears, and 12/31 also easy to find but more dirty shears.

Pit SE 9600', windloaded location. HS 105
10cm DH on gnd under thin windbuff. The whole pack up to 70cm was faceted to various degrees. 12/7 @ 50cm FC with shards of SH ECTP13 Q1, a few other FC layers and 12/31 (@65) produced no results.
PST oddly no results, on two different columns. I don't put much weight on this, the layer must have been non-planar without me noticing or something.

At around 10000' i started to get cracking in the windslab, about 15-30cm down to FC layer underneath. Very isolated to the ridgeline, in the band were w.s. was stiff enough to produce cracks but not so stiff it hold my weight.

Boulder Mountains - Gladiator 9600' SE. This pit shows the weak layer of surface hoar (ECTP13 on 12/7), as well as a weak layer of facets (12/31) in the upper portion of the snowpack.

Avalanche Problems

Problem Location Distribution Sensitivity Size Comments
Persistent Slab
Isolated
Specific
Widespread
Unreactive
Stubborn
Reactive
Touchy
D1
D1.5
D2
D2.5
D3
D3.5
D4
D4.5
D5
 Layer Depth/Date: 30-55cm, 12/7; 20-30cm 12/31
Sensitivity varies depending on load, with high elevation wind loaded pockets being more reactive. Size also increases with elevation, I doubt mid elevation S 1/4 in this area can produce more than D1 given how faceted the slab is

Terrain Use

I avoided avalanche terrain except for a short, planar treed pitch with clean run out and no wind loading.

Close