Northwest Avalanche Center

Observation: Public

All Observations

Observation Details

Name:
John Barkhausen
Observation Date:
January 15, 2023
Submitted:
January 15, 2023
Zone or Region:
Stevens Pass
Activity:
Skiing/Snowboarding
Location:
Skyline

Signs of Unstable Snow

None reported

Observations

Highly Variable conditions based on elevation and aspect; surface crust thickness, new snow amounts, wind loading, etc. Dug 2 pits around 5200’ on NW and SW aspects. Both showed no wind loading, no reactivity within old layers. Both showed a 2-3cm crust with about 20cm of faulty wet and dense beneath that. Xmas crust buried about 70cm, 1/1 buried about 20cm. There were some stability test results on a storm snow interface about 10cm from the surface.

We did see wind loading in very isolated places; at 5300’ on S-SW aspects, had built about 8cm WS at its deepest. Below ridge line we saw no wind loading or snow transport.

Media

Photo by Robert Moran
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