Sawtooth Avalanche Center

Public Field Report

Observation Details

Observation Date:
January 25, 2020
Submitted:
January 25, 2020
Zone or Region:
Galena Summit and Eastern Mtns
Activity:
Skiing/Snowboarding
Location:
Owl Creek

Signs of Unstable Snow

None reported

Observations

Today we went out Owl creek and up the north ridge line to an elevation of about 7,500 ft. The south slopes has a crust layer with light dusting of snow on top. the weather was intermittent cloud cover with periods of light snow and periods of sun and winds were light out of the SW. The snow on the northern aspect slopes did not have any crust layer on top. We stuck to slopes that were less than 35 degree slope angle. We did see some roller balls that fell from exposed rocks on both the north and south aspects that looked like the released on the last sunny day. No avalanches were seen.

Media

Advanced Observations

Observed Avalanche Problem #1: 
Persistent Slab
Comments: 
We dug a pit that was 90 cm deep. We saw a persistent weak layer at bout 65 cm deep. Our test results were CTM at 20, CTH at 24, ECTX. This was on a NNW aspect at about 7500 ft on a 24 degree slope, Cloud cover was broken with a very light snow fall and light winds from the SW.