GUIDE(S): Scott
DATE: 01/12/2015
ACTIVITY: Ski touring
LOCATION: Anthracite Mesa/ Coneys
ELEVATION: 9,500 to 11,000
ASPECT: NE-E

WEATHER: Temps in the 20’s. Cloud ceiling of 10,500 at the trailhead, gradually rising throughout the day. Sun visible around noon, and remaining until 3. Winds calm to light throughout the afternoon.

SNOWPACK/AVALANCHE OBS: 3cm buried surface hoar layer found at all aspects and elevations where I dug including ridge top. ECT near ridgetop provided no result on the December 13th layer 80cm below the surface. HST was between 10-15cm depending on elevation, no evidence of wind transport.…

GUIDE(S): Donny
DATE: 15-01-12
ACTIVITY: Ski touring
LOCATION: Snodgrass
ELEVATION: 9,600’ to 11,150′
ASPECT: SE-S-SW-W-NW

WEATHER: Mostly cloudy, no precip, calm and warm.  It was “Africa hot” in Wash Gulch as we toured out – a product of a greenhouse effect, I would guess.

SNOWPACK/AVALANCHE OBS: 4” of new snow from yesterday (maximum).  We skied the west aspect of Snodgrass down to Wash Gulch.  We had no signs of instabilities.  The ski pen was 20 to 40 cm.  The 12/13 interface could not be felt in the shaded areas.…

Recent Observations: New Interface is the Jan 11th Interface and the new snow is falling on mostly crusts, Near Surface facets and Surface Hoar. This will be a one to watch especially as slabs build. Jan 3rd interface visible in profile but not reactive to column tests.

East: Evidence of more SW winds with no slab forming yet. 3‐6” of new unconsolidated snow on mostly supportive crust. Descent bonding with minimal sluffing.

West: Sluffing moving medium speeds w/ Oswald going full track not a lot of mass. See attached profile from JB Jungle

File Upload: Snow Profile…

Name: Donny
DATE: 15-01-11
LOCATION: Crested Butte Area
ELEVATION: 9000’ to 10,400′
ASPECT: Mostly N and NE

WEATHER: Snowing all day; short periods of S3; HST 15cm; calm to light winds; temps in the upper teens to lower 20s throughout the day.

SNOWPACK/AVALANCHE OBS: No signs of instabilities or avalanches observed.  New snow is light and not adding significant weight to snowpack.  Looked at 12/13 interface in a couple spots and it seemed to be faceting away, although I still got rough hand sheers.…

NAME: Donny
DATE: 15-01-10
ACTIVITY: Ski touring
LOCATION: Crested Butte Area
ELEVATION: 9,200 to 11,600
ASPECT: S-SE-E

WEATHER: Clear, light wind above 11,000’, warmer high than low.

SNOWPACK/AVALANCHE OBS: SH and SF, ski pen 5cm average, plenty of crusts on southern aspects.  No signs of instabilities; no avalanches observed.…

Name: Evan Ross
DATE: 1/09/15
LOCATION: Crested Butte Area
ASPECT: E, NE
Elevation: Valley Bottom, 9,500ft
WEATHER: Sunny and warm. No wind.

SNOWPACK/AVALANCHE OBS: Low angle near Washington Gulch TH. Plenty of collapsing without any cracks. Variable slab strength with ski pen at 10cm during the good times and ski pen on the ground during the bad times. Boot pen would have been to the ground all the time. The low elevation slab has certainly been faceting out at these low elevations but the question is how much longer will it take for the slabs to become isolated? HS 60-80cm. Lots of large surface hoar in the valley. SS-N-R1-D2-O at 12,300ft on south aspect of Baldy. Likely failed around Jan 4th and originally observed on Jan 5th.

Loose snow avalanche that propagated a shallow slab 100ft wide below Gothic Spoon at 11,300ft, D2. Likely failed Jan 6th and originally observed on the 7th.…

DATE: 01/07/2015

LOCATION: Wolverine Basin

ELEVATION: 9000′ – 10,200′

ASPECT: N-E

WEATHER: Clear skies and hot in the sun. Temps below freezing in the shade. Calm to light winds.

SNOWPACK/AVALANCHE OBS: Thin crusts on SE-W aspects in the valley bottom. Surface hoar was also noted in the valley bottom. While ascending the gunsight road HS remained consistent around 110cm. Outside of the skintrack no instabilities were noted, and boot pen was essentially to the ground. Hand pits consistently showed an extremely weak snowpack with no layer greater than fist hardness. One human triggered slab avalanche occurred on a NE aspect at ~10,200′. The run was a short path (~300′) between two switchbacks on the Gunsight road visible when you enter Wolverine Basin. Near the start zone HS was approximately 75cm with consistently weak snow to the ground. As I continued down the slope I felt the snow become increasingly more supportive and near the bottom felt a collapse. The slab was triggered from approximately 250ft below the crown, and the crown depth was ~75cm. The crown was approximately 150ft wide and I would classify the slide a R2-D1. Skier 1 was on the road above the path when the avalanche occurred, and skier 2 was clear of the runout by the time the avalanche accelerated.…

GUIDE(S): Jeff

DATE: 2015/01/05

ACTIVITY: Ski tour

LOCATION: Commando Trees

ELEVATION: 9600′ – 10,400

ASPECT: NW-N-NE

WEATHER: Variable/Overcast, flat light, dry most of the day, Strong to Extreme, mostly N channeled down valley

SNOWPACK/AVALANCHE OBS: sled parking (valley floor along stream) got avalanched by a D1 windslab 30cm thick that formed while we were touring! Fairly recent slab D1.5 under the cliff band of Schuykill peak above pittsburgh rollers. Schuykill looks stripped in many places & very thin, highly variable. No other signs of instability on surrounding alpine peaks

In Old Growth timber: consistent & stable pack of ~120-135cm of well bonded snow.
Bonding Tests:
Location: NW, large living room sized opening in forest @ 10,400. Lots of tree bombs evident in the pit. 25 degree slope, ski pen 10-15cm. boot pen 30cm. Progressive hardness downwards except a 1 hardness change @ 70cm down on rounds/rounding facets interface

DTH on ground (moist, dense (4F) cohesive facets, sticking to leaves, non repeatable)
DTN
CTH @ 70cm down on rounded slab (1F) & rounding facets interface (4F), Q2 (RP)
CTN
ETCX

Skied slpoes up to 50 degrees with no instabilities…

Guides(s): Jeff
Date: 20150104
Level One Avy Course, Tour Day
Location: East River Valley/Gothic
Elevation: 9400′ – 10,000
Aspect: SW-N-ENE

Weather: Variable/Overcast, flat light, dry most of the day, a few flurries. Winds light to strong, mostly N channeled down valley.

Snowpack/Avalanche Obs: Approximately 12 recent avalanches along Snodgrass seen from the Gothic road.  Looked like skier triggered within the PWL.  ~5 D1.5’s (small but going into gulley terrain traps where the debris piled up deeply) ~7 X D2’s.  At the far end of Gothic Mtn (across the bridge) we remotely triggered a D1.5 from ~50m away on a 25* slope.  the whole slope cracked & the pocket went within the PWL of very large facets.  looked like 33-35* slope angle from 50m.

Overall, snowpack is shallow & week 50-100cm.

We got collapses & shooting cracks on a SW (240*) slope BTL @15* (guessing the crust wasn’t strong enough in a semi shaded low < slope).

Ditto on W, E, ENE  (Pit collapsed before we dug it on the approach!)

Probably 10 collapses in all spanning large distances.

ENE pit: The structure is >5mm Facets w/ soft (often 4F slab over the top).

WSW pit: (10 m away from above pit) 25* slope, knife hard 6cm crust over facets with perc. columns in the facets showed no propagation and only Q2/Q3 failures within the top layers resting on crust.…