Observation: Public
Observation Details
Name:
Dallas GlassObservation Date:
January 29, 2023Submitted:
January 29, 2023Zone or Region:
West SouthActivity:
Snowmobiling/SnowbikingLocation:
White Pass: Hogback Mt AreaTriggered Avalanches
Did you trigger any avalanches?
YesWas it intentional?
YesAvalanche Type:
Soft SlabSize:
Size 1: Relatively harmless to peopleElevation:
5800Aspect:
EComments:
Small wind slab 8" deep and 20ft wide on a very steep convex rollover. The slide entrained loose surface snow and ran approx 50 vert feet.Signs of Unstable Snow
Did you see shooting cracks?
Yes, IsolatedDid you experience collapsing or whumpfing?
NoObservations
Wind: Intense blowing snow, scoured slopes, eroded cornices, fresh cornices, textured surfaces, drifts, and firm hollow slabs. Signs of wind transported snow were abundant today. As I mentioned above, along ridges at upper elevations, the loading pattern was quite predictable. However, just a little lower in the terrain and winds seemed to come from every direction. It's worth noting that the one legitimate avalanche that I triggered was on an E aspect and winds were coming from the E. This just emphasizes the varied loading patterns on these mid-slope features.
New Snow: In wind-sheltered areas, there was about 5" of very light dry snow from yesterday afternoon and last night. On SE-SW aspects this new snow sits over a melt-freeze crust. It was very poorly bonded to this much firmer layer.
Snowpack: In general the MLK crust was down about 2ft (60cm). While I could still find other recent layers (1/21, 1/18) in the upper snowpack, none of them showed any lingering weak grains.
Media
Advanced Observations
Observed Avalanche Problem #1:
Wind SlabComments:
At higher elevations, wind slabs were very firm and on more predictably loaded features.At mid-elevations winds were forming slabs on various aspects and features. Loading patterns were much less predictable. Slabs on these mid-slope features were softer.