Around 7 p.m. Monday night, a few miles up Portal Creek, triggered from bottom of slope.
Skied the second meadow this morning. S1 to S2 precipitation while we were in the area; cloud ceiling was around 8000' around 7am and lifted to ~9000' by 9:30am; calm winds. Ski tracks from yesterday had ~2-6" on them. Snow was deep and dry; no signs of avalanches or instability were observed.
Small wind slab in hyalite at the start to champaign slot, 7600’, WNW, ~8” crown
Small wind slab in hyalite at the start to champaign slot, 7600’, WNW, ~8” crown. Photo: S Bonucci
Small wind slab in hyalite at the start to champaign slot, 7600’, WNW, ~8” crown. Photo: S Bonucci
Small wind slab in hyalite at the start to champaign slot, 7600’, WNW, ~8” crown
Moderate SW'ly winds on the ridge were enough to entrain and transport some surface snow. However, windslab formation was very isolated, slabs were soft (4F), and not reactive to ski travel. Most surface snow in the area was unconsolidated, in some cases with a thin (<1cm) surface wind skin.
The top 150 feet of the SE path was scoured with variable ski quality, however below this the snow was largely unaffected by today's wind and skied well. No tracks were visible from previous days.
Around 2pm the base of the clouds descended, and snowfall began at a rate of S-1.
