Observation: Public

Observation Details

Signs of Unstable Snow

Observations

Yesterday, we toured in the Rainy Pass zone. We observed over a dozen older avalanches in the area, mostly D 1 - 1.5. We believed these all ran during the warmup between the 13th and 14th. We dug a pit just above a crown at 5600' on a SE aspect. The weak layer appears to have been the 1/5 buried surface hoar layer. This layer is now 65cm down. The buried surface hoar crystals are between 5 and 10 mm and are rounding. On one of the last hard 'taps' of an extended column test the whole block broke free and slid off on this 1/5 layer. (ECTP 28 @ 65cm). No other signs of instability throughout the day.