Observation Date: 02/10/2018
Route/Location:
Just East of Pt. Six
Weather:
Fog, light snow, circling gusts otherwise fairly calm except for ridge tops, a fair amount of transport near ridges (enough to mostly fill in 4-6 in. tracks every hr).
Wind:
New Snow: 3-6″
Avalanche Activity:
Other Comments:
Pit results:
North Aspect
7800 ft. just 200 yds east of Pt. Six
38* slope
270 cm depth
Dug down to 120 cm (as measured from ground)
ECTP 11 Q1 @ 170 cm
Did not ride slope. As 100cm of dense snow seemed ready for a trigger.
Thinking this was likely buried surface hoar (no faceting, north facing, didn’t look like graupel), switched to J bowl side (sun exposure on South side) of ridge and dug.
South aspect
7800ft
20* slope
~190 cm depth
Dug down to ~50 cm
ECTN 8 @ ~175 Q2
ECTN 17 @ ~165 Q2
ECTN 20 @ ~160 Q2
Rode 30* angle South facing slope, then the mellow (10*-30*) east facing ridge that leads below Jenni lake.
Ski quality:
4-6 inches of low density snow on average, 8-10 in gullies.
Skinning was difficult, with lots of sliding and sluffing on anything near 30*.
Fun, fast day to ski lower angle terrain, with easy skin track back up. Stayed away from North aspects, and anything much over 30* on east aspects.
Wind skins starting to form on ridge tops.
Observer: Brian Stampe