Northwest Avalanche Center

Observation: Public

All Observations

Observation Details

Name:
Erik
Observation Date:
December 13, 2020
Submitted:
December 13, 2020
Zone or Region:
Snoqualmie Pass
Activity:
Skiing/Snowboarding
Location:
Snow Lake North

Signs of Unstable Snow

Did you see shooting cracks? 
Yes, Isolated
Did you experience collapsing or whumpfing? 
No

Observations

Stuck to mellow undulating terrain in the storm. Intentionally looked for test slopes to search out wind slab. After finding it easily, we confirmed our plan to stay off bigger and steeper terrain. Traveled cautiously, still tricky skinning on shallowly buried rain crust in many areas of the woods.

Media

Test slope easy failure
Shooting cracks on the skin track

Advanced Observations

Observed Avalanche Problem #1: 
Wind Slab
Comments: 
Lee aspects just below ridge top. Potentially enough to bury a person on a larger feature. High likelihood of triggering. 6-12” slab failing on the 12/9 rain crust and isolated surface hoar in some areas where wind didn’t blow it off.
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