Observation: Public
Observation Details
Name:
Matt CrislerObservation Date:
December 23, 2020Submitted:
December 23, 2020Zone or Region:
West SouthActivity:
Skiing/SnowboardingLocation:
Paradise, Mazama RidgeObserved Avalanches
Did you observe any avalanches?
YesAvalanche Type:
Hard SlabSize:
Size 2: Could bury, injure, or kill a personElevation:
7000-8000Aspect:
EComments:
3 natural D2 wind slabs on cross-loaded features. Hard to estimate crown height given the distance, but looks like it could be ~1m. 2 were adjacent to each other on a cross loaded feature E of the Muir route and one over toward the Van Trump area.Photo:
Signs of Unstable Snow
Observations
Toured within the 5000-6000' range and observed the alpine with a telephoto lens. Signs of instability were isolated to a D1 wind slab under the ridge just below the approach to Panorama Point (E-aspect below cornice). The winds filled things back in to a point where it was challenging to identify a crown depth. Steep S/SE facing slopes in Mazama bowl did not appear to produce ski triggered loose dry early in the day and appeared to hold up well to the sun into mid-afternoon.
Snowpack wise, we had about 15 cm of new snow over the rain crust with the surface either ~1cm of graupel above 5500' or fairly small (~<1cm) surface hoar <5500'. I dug below the crust in an area that did not slide in the recent wet slab cycle searching for the layer above the 12/9 crust. This layer was identifiable, but not reactive down ~90 cm on a W aspect at 5800' (DTN). While digging I identified a layer that consistently broke away planar ~35cm down. This layer produced a CTH26 resistant planar fracture in a column test.
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