Northwest Avalanche Center

Observation: Public

All Observations

Observation Details

Name:
Matt Henry
Observation Date:
January 24, 2021
Submitted:
January 25, 2021
Zone or Region:
Snoqualmie Pass
Activity:
Skiing/Snowboarding
Location:
Snow Lake/Gem Lake Area

Triggered Avalanches

Did you trigger any avalanches? 
Yes
Was it intentional? 
No
Avalanche Type:
Dry Loose (Sluff)
Size:
Size 1: Relatively harmless to people
Elevation:
Near Tree Line
Aspect:
Comments:
I hesitate to even call these avalanches - I'd pick D0.1 if that was an option. We triggered dry loose sluffs on steeper slopes. It ran pretty easily and fast. Just a heads up that the new snow is not bonding well to the surface crusts in the Snow Lake Area Alpental Valley. These sluffs were not aspect dependent.

Signs of Unstable Snow

None reported

Observations

Skied in the Snow Lake and Gem Lake area. Snowing pretty nicely all day. Probably accumulated 3-ish inches. As has been noted previously, travel conditions proved to be the primary hazard. But we did observe some skier triggered dry loose sluffs on steeper slopes. Also saw some signs of blowing snow including new (small) cornices forming on the N side of the Snow Lake Divide. The new snow is not bonding well to the surface crust, and there is enough wind to move it around.

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