Public Observation

Observation Details

Signs of Unstable Snow

Observations

Skied into the Heart Lake zone today, stayed below the Heart Lake headwall. 1' of new snow since Thanksgiving's warm spell. Dug a pit on the face we skied, E 6000'. Recorded and ECTP5, ~40cm down. Failed on the lower of two prominent crusts, one that was likely from last week's warmup and the lower from perhaps a rain event earlier in the month. Failure propagated fairly cleanly across the column. We also experienced whumpfing and shooting cracks, one instance with cracks shooting up and across slope ~15'. Spooky--no signs of recent avalanche activity on any slopes within eyesight. We skied conservatively in <30* terrain for some mellow pow laps.