Observation: Public

Observation Details

Signs of Unstable Snow

Observations

Snowshoed up to Red Mountain Lookout (Indian Heaven Wilderness).

I took a more conservative route/path than usual because of uncertainty due to visibility and large dump of new snowfall.

The snowpack along the road cleared by a vehicle with snow tires seemed to be approximately 1'~2' deep above 4.1k', but I didn't get a chance to accurately measure the snow pack depth.

I pushed straight uphill off-trail at 45.9300, -121.8191 (the exposed section), avoiding open slopes over 25 degrees as much as possible and avoided taking shortcuts through the snow wherever possible to not disturb the snowpack. My primary concern once I entered the open slope was terrain traps (tree wells and covered gaps near boulders), so I stuck near the rain shadows of evergreens.

The penetration of my MSR Evos with fins was approximately 2" (at the lowest) and 6" (at the highest) depth.

I observed some micro planar breaks, but none that propagated.

The wind was blowing fairly hard in the last 300' of the snowshoe (10mph sustained winds with 20mph+ gusts), hence I didn't go exploring too far in leeward areas; wind was blowing SSW, so I assumed NNE was the most wind loaded area.