Observation Date: 02/16/2019
Route/Location:
Skinned up Gash Creek, to the ridge below and south of Gash Point with intentions to ski one of the mellower open bowls.
Weather:
Sunny to partly cloudy for most of the day. Light wind and snow near the top.
Wind:
Didn’t see a ton of transport happening. The cornices on the east facing bowls near the top are extremely big.
New Snow: 3-6″
Avalanche Activity:
Didn’t see any evidence of avalanches. Though you could feel the skin track collapsing to a faceted or just softer snow layer pretty regularly.
Other Comments:
We dug a pit at the top, just to see what’s going on in the snow pack. Noticed a few interesting layers, the first seemed like a density inversion 6” down, the second was a thin crust about 1 1/2’ down and then facets at the bottom (1 meter down). In the extended column test we got the new snow to fracture on the 6th tap with no propagation. The lower layer collapsed & propagated on the 2nd tap from the arm. (ECTP 22 on a crust ~18 inches down)
Observer: Roxanne Weippert