Observation: Public
Observation Details
Name:
Zachary MaurerObservation Date:
February 5, 2022Submitted:
February 5, 2022Zone or Region:
West NorthActivity:
Skiing/SnowboardingLocation:
Herman SaddleObserved Avalanches
Did you observe any avalanches?
YesAvalanche Type:
Soft SlabSize:
Size 2: Could bury, injure, or kill a personElevation:
5000'Aspect:
NComments:
2 different skiier triggered avalanches. Probably wind slab running on the weak facet layer for both, judging by the depth of the crown (very faint from across the valley)1) Diamond trees (i think), one big slide first on the steep middle section, triggered a bunch of slides further down the slope in different direction. Apparently there was a second slide due to hangfire. My guess D1.5-2
2) Blueberry chute, D1.5-2, seemed to start maybe 100' down from the second roll over into the main chute body
Signs of Unstable Snow
Did you see shooting cracks?
Yes, IsolatedDid you experience collapsing or whumpfing?
NoObservations
Started at 10min trees but bailed on that because of really noticeable windslab and with pole probing we could feel the weak layer above the January crust. Talked to one other party who decided to bail on Blueberry for the same reasons.
Went up Herman Saddle instead and then dropped over to iceberg. Observed a lot of windslab on all aspects, however didn't feel the upper weak interface on S aspects. Windslab seemed to sit atop soft warm powder on top of the January crust.
Didn't see any naturals.
Top 6" on S aspects was reactive to mitt pits (popping and sliding freely with moderate hand shear, sudden planar?) but didn't slide when skiing. Windslab was mostly pretty soft.
Warmed up near the end of the day, probably hovering at freezing or just above.
Two fairly large skiier triggered slides on Diamond Trees (?) and Blueberry Chutes. It seemed to be just the top windslab that broke judging by the faint crown lines and debris pile, but the crowns were very wide and ran the whole way down (couple hundred feet?) I would say D1.5 or 2.
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