Observation: Public

Observation Details

Signs of Unstable Snow

Observations

We travelled on east, north, and west aspects between 3200' and 5100' in the alpental valley and snow lake vicinity. We found increasing snow depths above snow lake divide; approximately 12" above 4500'. Climbing up the west slopes of avalanche, we observed the top layer of snow (approx 2-4") that was sliding on what appeared to be a graupel layer. This layer proved to sluff easily on our descent. Another party behind us told us at the bottom that they triggered a slab down to the most recent crust at the top of the ridge, although we did not observe it.

Boot pen was quite deep in areas (1-2ft), as it was easy to push through the light new snow and the slushy snow underneath.