Trending towards stability in this zone, with primary concern being patchwork of wind slabs from recent snow and wind events. Could imagine finding a small sensitive wind slab in the alpine if deposited on the right surface, but you'd probably have to be unlucky to do so.
Clear morning with a few high stratus clouds occasionally limiting incoming radiation in the afternoon. Cold temperatures all day long. Generally calm winds, with an uptick in wind speeds late in the day. Thanks to shifting wind speeds, it was hard to get a great sense of HST but based on observations during the storm it seems like 25-30cm is a good estimate.
# | Date | Location | Size | Type | Bed Sfc | Depth | Trigger | Comments | Photo |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Handfull |
Sawtooth Alpine |
Evidence of a handfull of wind slabs in the alpine, all seem to have failed prior to 2/8 | None | ||||||
1 |
North Fork Baron Creek W 9,600 |
Couldn't make out crowns, but saw a few significant (min D2.5) debris piles at the headwaters of the North Fork of Baron Creek. Based on amount of snow on debris it seems likely that these failed during mid storm, likely during one of the upticks in wind speed. | None | ||||||
1 |
S summit Cabin Creek Peak SW 9,000 |
Found one large avalanche in the Banner Zone. Due to distance was not able to get a great sense for how recently this occurred, but probably during the storm sometime. | None | ||||||
Few |
S |
WL | A few small (D1) loose wet dribblers, but cold temps and afternoon stratus kept this problem at bay today. In steep terrain directly facing the sun I was able to intentionally trigger a small one of these | None |
Went looking for potential persistent issues below new snow, particularly on solars, but was unable to find any obvious signs. Snowpit in lower profile produced several ECTNs with moderate force below the most recent snow. Did not excavate to basal problem, based on unreliability of snowpack test results on such deeply buried weak layers. Based on probing, HS 140-160cm on sheltered mid elevation solars, closer to 200cm on shaded aspects. In the alpine, HS generally greater than 220-230cm, up to 300cm in deeper areas. Thin areas exist where wind has been scouring throughout the season.