Observation: Public

Observation Details

Observed Avalanches

Signs of Unstable Snow

Observations

We wandered up the trees on northerly aspects of the Hidden Lake Area. Several glide avalanches were visible on steep solar aspects around 5000ft and appeared a couple days old.

Near treeline it was generally good skiing with a right-side up snowpack that was 125cm or more in depth. Upon investigation we found the melt form layers from rain on 11/18 about 50cm down but it was well bonded to the snow above. Compression tests yielded no results. Surface hoar had developed overnight from about 4000-5000ft.

Above treeline we encountered moderate S/SE winds that were developing pockets of soft windslab in the lee of isolated terrain features. These drifts were up to 2ft in places and generally dense, heavy, and unreactive. We did observe some cracking in areas with small shallow slabs. Some windward fetches were scoured down to the rain crust and blowing snow from the ridge tops was clearly visible. We retreated back down to treeline for good skiing. Temperatures remained cold throughout the day.