Observation: Public
Observation Details
Name:
MattObservation Date:
June 4, 2022Submitted:
June 5, 2022Zone or Region:
East NorthActivity:
Skiing/SnowboardingLocation:
Heather-Maple Pass, Lewis Glacier, Black PeakTriggered Avalanches
Did you trigger any avalanches?
YesWas it intentional?
NoAvalanche Type:
Wet LooseSize:
Size 2: Could bury, injure, or kill a personElevation:
6600'Aspect:
NEComments:
Predictably triggered a number of size 1-2 wet loose slides today while skiing north/northeast slopes. Very slow moving (manageable) slides due to the heavy wet snow.Observed Avalanches
Did you observe any avalanches?
YesAvalanche Type:
Wet LooseSize:
Size 2: Could bury, injure, or kill a personElevation:
6000+Aspect:
Comments:
Signs of wet loose slides everywhere (all aspects, all elevations) surrounding Lake Ann, Lewis Lake and Wing Lake. Many dangerous overhanging cornices littering all ridge lines, actively collapsing in the warming air and wet conditions. Very wet heavy snow from all the recent rain. Last weekend's snow has not consolidated with the underlying snowpack yet. We heard only one whumpf all day ~7500' while booting up the upper Lewis Glacier, but it was enough to give us pause since we hadn't seen any signs of slab activity.Signs of Unstable Snow
Did you see shooting cracks?
NoDid you experience collapsing or whumpfing?
Yes, IsolatedObservations
Skiing any slopes above 35 degrees triggered (manageable) wet loose slides today in the Heather-Maple Pass area. Highly reactive ~5" of loose wet snow on top of previously consolidated base. The rain has done a number on the snow pack leaving lots of moisture in its upper layer. None of the slides stepped down into older layers, however, and we were able to successfully manage fall lines throughout the day.
We attempted Corteo Peak, but overhanging cornices above its SW ridge access gullies turned us around. After hoping clouds would lift to get an eye on Black's NE ridge, we skied the Lewis Glacier and then skinned back to Heather Pass - across a hang fire zone from dropping county line cornices to the east of Horsefly Pass. A probe check on top of Heather Pass revealed a 200cm snowpack base - crazy for June! We elected to ski the south aspect directly to Lake Ann and skin out the summer lake trail as opposed to the descending traverse loosely following the Heather Pass trail - figuring we'd be cutting loose untold numbers of loose wet slides above tbd snowshoers below. The south aspect felt more stable than the north and northeast slopes on the backside of Heather Pass and only produced some small sluff.
A classic Cascade spring pollen/pine/dirt exit through the trees back to Hwy 20. Pollen wasn't as bad as expected though.
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