Observation: Public

Observation Details

Observed Avalanches

Signs of Unstable Snow

Observations

Per convo w team exiting Superbowl ski tour around 1pm who noticed another team (“of maybe 4”) hesitating to drop-in to Wy-east, looks like an earlier party of two skiers may have triggered some loose wet sluffs at start of a descent before switching to shadier skier’s-right-most chute off Wy’east face proper.

That’s all speculation, however, based on that convo, never seeing anyone up there myself until the team of two skied at 3:15pm, the pics climbing through which I’ve uploaded and the reasonably quality skiing I found a few hours later (unbreakable and firm, but with identifiable seams of soft and dry surface layer snow for edging, noted on - and precondition for - the final late afternoon pitch up).

Departed MHM parking closure shortly before 1200. Hard left turn to very gentle ascending traverse (ie toward standard Wy’east route below Steel Cliffs) at 1630 (9650’) when bootback began breaking through thick slab-like crust to moist-seeming junk below (ie still non-existent rock/rimefall from east side of Steel Cliffs in dwindling sunhit of coolish day seemed a lesser risk than potentially giant pillow w rotten stuffing above Superbowl trap). Arrived af 10.6’ ridge overlook south of Wy’east face proper just before 1800. Leveraging bootpack tracks and rocky handrails to jumpturn into a whiteout 1820 (in part encouraged by finding a VERY damp insulating layer inside an apparently ineffectual plastic bag adjacent to a guilty-looking water bladder). Arrived MHM parking lot shortly after 1900.

While cloudcover/white out conditions appeared to be impacting areas to NE & W of me all day long (especially lower, except for White River Canyons & initially Superbowl), Wy’east was mostly clear for a large part of the afternoon, right up until drop-in in fact. The mountain was jovial enough to clear up again in time for a pre-departure photo from the parking lot. Providing pics that may be helpful for other future timing experts (and skiers who prefer not to be surprised by 25’ drops to bare ground and are exiting via MHM during this special work offseason).