Northwest Avalanche Center

Observation: Public

All Observations

Observation Details

Name:
Sam Luthy
Observation Date:
January 29, 2021
Submitted:
January 29, 2021
Zone or Region:
Olympics
Activity:
Skiing/Snowboarding
Location:
Hurricane Ridge- Maggies

Triggered Avalanches

Did you trigger any avalanches? 
Yes
Was it intentional? 
Yes
Avalanche Type:
Soft Slab
Size:
Size 1: Relatively harmless to people
Elevation:
5300 NTL
Aspect:
NE
Comments:
Small but reactive soft wind slabs running on near surface facets on top of a crust.

Signs of Unstable Snow

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

Observations

Beautiful day up at the ridge with light winds and sunny skies. 2-3 inches of new snow over the last week is covering most aspects with the ridge tops and South aspects mostly scoured. Lee slopes, N-NE have 6-10 inches of wind loaded snow on them just below the ridge. Soft wind slabs are easy to trigger and are running on a layer of near surface facets just above a crust layer. On top of the snow, 3mm surface hore was observed today. its been all but eliminated on solar slopes and along ridgelines but lingers in shady and sheltered areas. If you dig deeper into the snow pack you will find weak faceted snow grains. However, these weak layers are believed to not pose much of a hazard yet as they are bridged by a crust above or are discontinuous. With new snow and wind predicted for the weekend, watch how it bonds to the surface snow. Two layers with persistent grains exist in the upper 3-4inches of the snowpack.

Media

Scoured ridgeline along the top if Maggie's face.
3mm Surface hore on a NE aspect.
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