Observation: Public

Observation Date:

January 18, 2021

Submitted:

January 19, 2021

Zone or Region:

West North

Activity:

Walking/Hiking

Location:

Welker Peak

Did you observe any avalanches?

Yes

Avalanche Type:

Wet Slab

Size:

Size 2: Could bury, injure, or kill a person

Elevation:

~4,700'

Aspect:

W

Comments:

Lots of older debris everywhere! -- mostly covered in a few inches of new snow.

None reported

Teamed up with some choss dawgs for an ascent of this 5587' peak just east of Baker Lake via the SE-trending ridge off the FS road. We expected firm conditions for crampons and left floatation at home. Unfortunately, there was a nice breakable crust under several inches of new snow which led to way too much postholing. No signs of instability other than our faceplants when postholing downhill. A few stashes of soft snow but overall a lot of soul-sucking travel. Some wind drifts and cornices up high but all relatively small. Beautiful day though, very light winds, only a few high clouds, great summit views. Sorry, no photos of the avalanche debris fields.