Large, deep avalanche on East face of Mt. Abundance. Photo from 1/2/22: S. Strenge
Correction to temperatures not negative temps. 15F Temp Air, 15F T0, 11F T10
Depth Hoar on summit Mt Hebgen. ECT no propagation. Hand sheers x3 on SE slope increasing elevation up the slope demonstrated no slab on top of the depth hoar or facets on the ground.
Snomobilers observed this natural avalanche on a NE aspect on Sheep Mountain on 1/1/22. It appeared to be more than 48 hours old. Photo: J. Fritz
Toured up Sheep Basin today. The wind had totally hammered the whole basin, lots of wind drifts, many that had formed stiff slabs. We saw what looked like a small natural avalanche crown by tea/crumpets, but it had been pretty filled in and we could not see a debris pile. Dug a pit at about 9300' in the south facing tubes off Miller. HS 125, ECTN 18 about 30cm down at the new/old interface. Thin layer of facets at the ground, ~10cm. Otherwise pretty unremarkable in terms of structure. Wind slabs were not reactive where we skied, but definitely grabby!
Shallow snowpack and wind affected top layer 1”. Pit was dug on the climbers left (south) of the slope just as you reach the bottom of the glade. No signs of obvious instability but large (see photo) layer of facets on a hard ground layer. Also a good reminder to revisit snow pit test methods.
