Observation: Avalanche Professional

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Weather Summary

Overcast with very small sun breaks to keep visibility decent up to S1 overall comfortable temps while skinning up and started cool in the morning. By afternoon clouds lowered and snow increased, decreasing visibility and creating flat light.

Avalanche Observation Comments:

Unstable snow was limited to loose dry running quick, entraining more snow, but was fluffy and not pushy. One loose dry slid in steep terrain over 150' vertical. Isolated wind slabs were soft (4F-), shallow and small confined to the new snow (HN24). In one case an intentionally skier triggered wind slab was approx 25cm x 12m x 15m and released on a steep 35 degree convexity in a common leeward slope on ridgeline.

Snowpack Observations

In an isolated leeward cross loaded E aspect on ridgeline, we had 1 small whoompf. We dug and found a decomposing and thinning crust possibly from Thursday night (Feb 9) Friday Morning (Feb 10). This crust drastically thinned around 5,300'. Formal obs resulted in CTM SP down 40cm, ECTN 13 down 35cm with a progressive fracture during subsequent loading taps. Otherwise no cracking or releases in deeper older weak layers. The difference in depth was the result of wind loading variations in our observation pit.