Pro Field Report

Basic Information

Observation Date:

March 20, 2023

Submitted:

March 21, 2023

Observer:

SAC - VandenBos (off duty)

Zone or Region:

Soldier and Wood River Valley Mtns

Location:

Warm Springs - west of Bald Mountain (6,300-8,600', primarily NW-N-NE-E-SE)

Recent Avalanches?

None Observed

Cracking?

None Experienced

Collapsing?

None Experienced

No hard signs of instability experienced.

Stability Rating:

Fair

Confidence in Rating:

Stability Trend:

Advanced Information

Cloud Cover:

Overcast

Wind:

Moderate , S

New/Recent Snowfall:

7-9cm

Afternoon wx obs: brief periods of clearing observed between rounds of snowfall. All precipitation fell as dry snow while I was in the field, but some wet snow/rain(?) appeared to have fallen earlier in the day. Above 7500 HST was 7-9cm. Steady upper end of light/low end of moderate winds out of the S on exposed ridges.

Mostly moving obs with hand pits and pole probes on a day off:
2/18 weak layer is down 85-100cm on shaded slopes, there are several crusts present in the upper 50-60cms on solars. It appears to have rained to at least 7,100' during the 3/14 warning and avalanche cycle, producing a set of crusts which are now buried 30-40cm down on shaded slopes. These were obvious in the pit wall and produced ECTNs in the mid 20s. In my pit at 7,100' on a N-facing slope the slab overlying 2/18 was 90 cm thick and graded from F at the top to 1F by 40cm down. The bottom 30cm of this slab were P- grading to P. My ECTs did not fail on this layer with standard loading steps, but additional hits from shoulder (same force as during standard shoulder taps) produced propagating results on this layer with 5 and 10 additional shoulder hits. I did not have any collapses involving this layer. In this location, 2/18 presented as a 10cm thick stack of FC, grading from 4F+ at the base to 4F- on top.

It felt uncomfortably warm at lower elevations today. We've been nosing towards some slow-burn wet weirdness at lower elevations in this zone. Cold overnight temps and clear skies have helped to keep this at bay thus far, but it seems pretty unlikely that we will get through the transition without some weirdness going on. This process will get sped up with new snow on the surface to melt and push into the snowpack (gotta have that water factory).

Impressive debris piles along the road from the now dozens of slides that have hit Warm Springs this year. Lots of the most recent debris has a wet character.

I traveled conservatively. I think you could probably "get away" with a lot here...right up until you didn't.