Observation: Public
Observation Details
Name:
Chelan County Mountain RescueObservation Date:
January 22, 2023Submitted:
January 22, 2023Zone or Region:
East CentralActivity:
Skiing/SnowboardingLocation:
Tronsen RidgeObserved Avalanches
Did you observe any avalanches?
YesAvalanche Type:
Soft SlabSize:
Size 1: Relatively harmless to peopleElevation:
5300'Aspect:
NComments:
We saw an ankle-biter of a skier-triggered D1 from last week's mid-week (18 Jan) storm. SS-AS-R1-D1. We saw a few larger crowns on northerly, steep ridgeline features above 40 degrees, but we didn't investigate the size or origin of these natural slides from around the MLK storms (SS-N-R1-D1?).Signs of Unstable Snow
None reported
Observations
23 cars at the trailhead (1400) as several courses/large parties enjoyed the sunshine and clear sky conditions at Blewett Pass. Poor structure abounds in the Blewett Pass area, with a Dagwood sandwich of crusts and weak snows between the Christmas crust and the current snow surface (~10cm and 20cm down). Most notable are multiple buried surface hoar layers in the storm snow (16 Jan and 18 Jan) over the MLK crust. Below the MLK crust (3-4cm at 5700'), we found 1F snow over the 1/4 surface hoar/crust 30-40cm down. Large facets are present under this crust. Surface hoar is forming on sheltered slopes.
Media
