Northwest Avalanche Center

Observation: Public

All Observations

Observation Details

Name:
Chaz
Observation Date:
January 5, 2022
Submitted:
January 5, 2022
Zone or Region:
Stevens Pass
Activity:
Skiing/Snowboarding
Location:
4400 ft SE Slope 4 miles east of pass.

Signs of Unstable Snow

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

Observations

Open meadow 33 degrees steep on a SE facing slope collapsed with a large whumph! This occurred at 4400 feet. We reassessed. We dug and performed an ECT.

ECT20 resistant planar on a solar crust 75 cm down.

Using our pit as a test slope we pushed from above with skis on and could easily get collapsing and propagation on this layer with stubborn shooting cracks extending 10 feet.

We skied on shadier terrain where we couldn’t find the solar crust.

Media

Public Field Report: 4400 ft SE Slope 4 miles east of pass.
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