Northwest Avalanche Center

Observation: Public

All Observations

Observation Details

Name:
Michael Okamoto
Observation Date:
April 17, 2022
Submitted:
April 18, 2022
Zone or Region:
West South
Activity:
Skiing/Snowboarding
Location:
Mount Saint Helens

Signs of Unstable Snow

Did you see shooting cracks? 
Yes
Did you experience collapsing or whumpfing? 
No

Observations

Traveled Worm Flows climbing route. Main concern for the route was the Monitor Ridge headwall, as we had a pretty early start to the day (4:15am leave from the TH)...

Noticed more reactive snow on the Monitor Ridge headwall, more so towards East aspects, which confirmed wind drift signs from below. Some shooting cracks as we broke trail, with a noticeable slab of 1-3 in on top of some crust.

Kept the skin track more towards the west aspect (but not too far, to keep lines open for skiing!), and nothing triggered on the way up or down.

Cloud cover was not to be found throughout the day. Secondary concern was sun affected snow, and on the descent, lower 2/3 of the mountains was pretty sticky for skiing and rollerballs were seen on the descent (about 1-2PM).

Media

Picture highlighted some of the wind affected snow on Sunday. This was seen on the ascent towards Monitor Ridge on one of the adjacent worm flows
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