Professional Field Report

Basic Information

Observation Details

Observation Date:
March 5, 2020
Submitted:
March 5, 2020
Observer:
SAC - Lundy, Stefan (off duty)
Zone or Region:
Banner Summit
Location:
Cape Horn/Lola

Signs of Unstable Snow

Recent Avalanches? 
Yes
Cracking? 
None Experienced
Collapsing? 
None Experienced
A handful of D1 wet loose slides observed. Hard to pin down when they happened but at least a few occurred in the past 48hrs.

Snow Stability

Stability Rating: 
Very Good
Confidence in Rating: 
High
Stability Trend: 
Steady

Bottom Line

Generally stable snowpack with fairly typical/predictable wet loose problem on steep, solar aspects at all elevations. Wet loose slides seem unlikely to gouge down deeper than 20-30cm except (maybe) in very isolated, rocky areas where the snowpack may be unusually weak and shallow.

Media/Attachments

Recent wet loose sluffs above Newman Lake on Copper. W aspect, 7400'. May have run yesterday (3/4).
Close up of recent wet loose sluffs above Newman Lake on Copper. W aspect, 7400'. May have run yesterday (3/4).
Small wet loose in Lola Creek, S aspect near 8400'.
Small wet loose in Lola Creek, S aspect near 8000'.

Advanced Information

Weather Summary

Cloud Cover:
Partly Cloudy
Wind:
Light , S

Temps were very warm. Some scattered high, thin clouds didn't do much to block solar radiation. Winds were gusty at ridge level, bumping into the moderate range at times.

Avalanche Observations

 #  Date Location Size Type Bed Sfc Depth Trigger Comments Photo
3-4 Copper
W 7400 		D1 WL N-Natural These seemed significant since they were on a W (almost a hair N of W) aspect. Pretty sure these happened yesterday afternoon. Ben and Scott were in the area on Tuesday and didn't report them.
Recent wet loose sluffs above Newman Lake on Copper. W aspect, 7400'. May have run yesterday (3/4).
3-5 Cape Horn and Lola
S mid to upper 		D1 WL N-Natural Hard to pin down date but at least a few looked within past 48hrs. Also see photos below.
Small wet loose in Lola Creek, S aspect near 8000'.

We observed a fair bit of steep, rocky, solar terrain that had no WL activity. Did not see any activity in the Stanley foothills.

Snowpack Observations

Mid to upper elevation shadys were the usual mixed bag of wind effect and FCsf. The FCsf up high has been inhibited by wind effect and is much more pronounced at low to mid-elevations. Low and mid-elevation shady aspects were pretty sticky in the trees but cold and dry in the open.

We skied a low elevation SE aspect at 1630 and while the whole snowpack was moist, only the top 15-20cm was wet. If you'd been pushing on something ~40 degrees or more, I think you could have peeled off the surface layer but I doubt it would have gouged deeper.

Avalanche Problems

Problem Location Distribution Sensitivity Size Comments
Wet Loose
Isolated
Specific
Widespread
Unreactive
Stubborn
Reactive
Touchy
D1
D1.5
D2
D2.5
D3
D3.5
D4
D4.5
D5

Terrain Use

We didn't have any terrain closed except steep solars late in the day, and didn't observe anything that would have changed that plan.