Pro Field Report

Basic Information

Observation Details

Observation Date:
December 4, 2022
Submitted:
December 4, 2022
Observer:
SAC - Scott Savage
Zone or Region:
Galena Summit and Eastern Mtns
Location:
Between Prairie and Owl Cks (SE-E-NE: 7000-7600')

Signs of Unstable Snow

Recent Avalanches? 
None Observed
Cracking? 
Isolated
Collapsing? 
Widespread
Frequent collapsing on the 11/27 layer, but none extended farther than 50 feet and most were propagating around 10-20 feet.

Bottom Line

This was a short outing on a day off, finding a Christmas tree in low-angled lower elevation terrain. We experienced frequent collapsing in terrain sheltered from the wind. Based on this short tour, it's scary out there - even in sheltered terrain. The weak snow that formed in November needs time to strengthen and adjust to the big load from the past week.

Advanced Information

Weather Summary

Cloud Cover:
Obscured
Temperature:
27-30F
Wind:
Calm
New/Recent Snowfall:
10-15cm new today (HN), depending on time of day (1330-1530 hrs). 50cm new snow from the past week.

Snowing lightly to S3, variable rates.

Snowpack Observations

HS=85-90cm ski pen=30-40cm, boot pen=70-80cm
10-15cm PP from today
50cm DF and PP from the past week
11/27 at 45-50cm (FC, some SH in open meadows, some 1 cm crusts near the top of it - hand pits showed it breaking on FC above the 1cm crust where it existed and near the top of the weak layer where there was no crust)
I didn't look closely at the lower layers, but there was no old October FC/DH where we traveled

Avalanche Problems

We spoke with another group who were skiing in middle-elevation terrain in the same general area. They reported frequent collapsing, even on the skin track after multiple laps on it. The collapses they experienced traveled up to 50 feet. They tried slope testing/ski cutting small terrain features and did not get any results (no small avalanches). They avoided avalanche terrain due to the persistent slab problem (terrible structure and frequent collapsing).

Terrain Use

We did not travel in avalanche terrain, and we would not have done so today if we were skiing or riding sleds instead of walking around/finding a tree.