Observation: Public

Observation Details

Signs of Unstable Snow

Observations

No signs of recent instability.
We skinned from Hyak to the end of the road at 4100' on the north face of Roaring Ridge (standard approach). We followed roads the whole way (taking the turn from NF-9070 to NF-5480-115 going up), but for some reason there weren't any other skin tracks on the road above 3100'; the main track left the road in a few spots to cut off switchbacks (or they didn't know about NF-9070-125/126). There are a few spots where the snowpack has settled at the road cuts, leaving large cracks. No signs of recent motion though. We broke through the 1" thick surface crust heading uphill on the road between 3700' and 3800', on a well-sheltered NW slope. It supported our weight everywhere else, and we didn't break it at all on the descent. We were surprised by the strength of the crust, but also surprised by how thin the softer faceted layer was on top. The recent warm air has not been enough to soften the surface here; perhaps later this afternoon it will turn into skiable January corn (or just breakable crust). It was about 10 degrees warmer in the clear cut than in the old growth, which is probably why the crust was stronger (deeper melt cycles). When we transitioned at 11 am, the hardness of the crust is why we stayed on the road, not its breakability. It wasn't worth skiing on steeper ice just to ski on steeper ice. Might've made a different choice with an axe. Going any higher would have warranted one, or at least ski crampons.
On the descent, we took the more mellow and less-tracked NF-9070-125 all the way to NF-9070 rather than retrace our steps on NF-5480-115. Skiing the road was surprisingly pleasant where it wasn't tree-bombed, water-rutted, or tracked.
See attached for some zoom pictures of the peaks north of the pass. Plenty of evidence of wet slides on these south faces, plus a few crowns and some glide debris.