Pro Field Report

Basic Information

Observation Details

Observation Date:
February 25, 2022
Submitted:
February 25, 2022
Observer:
SAC - Lundy, Blaugher
Zone or Region:
Galena Summit and Eastern Mtns
Location:
Galena Peak (7300-10400', N-W-S)

Signs of Unstable Snow

Recent Avalanches? 
None Observed
Cracking? 
None Experienced
Collapsing? 
None Experienced

Snow Stability

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

Bottom Line

Generally stable snowpack observed. Recent wind/snow did not create any fresh wind slabs of significant size. There are plenty of old wind slabs, unfortunately the recent snowfall has made it more difficult to identify them. Most of these seem unreactive, but evaluating hard slabs is difficult at best. Solars are frozen hard with about 3" of newer snow on top.

Advanced Information

Weather Summary

Cloud Cover:
Mostly Sunny
Temperature:
cold
Wind:
Light
New/Recent Snowfall:
~7cm since 2/20

Low cloud deck in the Sawtooth Valley this morning. Clouds burned off by midday leaving nearly clear skies.

Snowpack Observations

The usual variable surfaces from the prolonged interval... Found a thin crust (2/14) beneath the recent snow to 8500' on shady aspects, with extremely weak FCsf below. Solars were locked up hard with 7cm of recent snow atop a ~10cm thick, ski supportable crust. The crust was firm and supportable even in the forest. Shady, alpine terrain is a variable mix of wind effect, old wind slabs (mostly hard), and FCsf.

The most recent winds had scoured the NW-facing terrain of the W ridge. I found a few very thin wind slabs on the S side, but these were too small to be an issue. The older hard slabs "seemed" unreactive - stomping on them didn't produce any cracking.

Avalanche Problems

No problems observed

Terrain Use

No terrain was closed in the morning trip plan. We did not ski off the summit, mostly due to a conservative work context but also due to a thin, rocky snowpack, the possibility of wind slabs in consequential terrain, and the difficulty of reading the wind patterns with the recent few inches of snow.