Northwest Avalanche Center

Observation: Public

All Observations

Observation Details

Name:
Enji Cooper
Observation Date:
February 26, 2022
Submitted:
February 27, 2022
Zone or Region:
Snoqualmie Pass
Activity:
XC Skiing/Snowshoeing
Location:
Quartz Mountain

Triggered Avalanches

Did you trigger any avalanches? 
Yes
Was it intentional? 
No
Avalanche Type:
Dry Loose (Sluff)
Size:
Size 1: Relatively harmless to people
Elevation:
4.6k'
Aspect:
SW
Comments:
Caused a fair bit of sluffing when coming off the W side of the ridge heading towards Quartz Lake. Made for pretty fun snowshoe skiing though. All sluffing was isolated.

Signs of Unstable Snow

None reported

Observations

Sky was forecast yesterday, which helped keep the temps low. Undisturbed snow was extra spicy in areas along traverse with previous runout (wet loose debris) in areas under steep S facing cliff bands.
Didn't run into any issues traversing over steep exposed slope, but saw a number of older wet loose avy debris.
Apart from the refreeze crust issue with the slab, most of the conditions were either wet loose in warmer areas or dry loose in colder areas.
Precipitation started falling around 16:00 (pretty close to the NOAA forecasted time). Was S-2 showers.
Snow below treeline was getting decimated by rain both yesterday and today. Many areas below 2.5k' were <1/16" deep.

Media

Open slope along traverse.
Avy slope along S/SW ridge of Quartz Mountain.
Summit cornice crown.

Advanced Observations

Observed Avalanche Problem #1: 
Wet Loose
Comments: 
A lot of wet loose snow underneath the hard slab (refreeze crust) when traversing under the trees from 2.8k' to 3.8k'. The snow was incredibly low coverage until the ridge though (3.4k'+).
Observed Avalanche Problem #2: 
Cornice
Comments: 
A number of crowns were seen on the N/NE/E side of the summit ridge.
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