Professional Observation

Observation Details

Signs of Unstable Snow

Snow Stability

Bottom Line

Today we toured into Angel Basin, and on the shoulder of Lees peak, up to 8,600'. Just after leaving the ski area, we observed some fresh dry loose "sluff" avalanches across the skin track. These were initiated in steep terrain >35 degrees where the snow had fallen out of the trees. Fortunately, we did not observe any avalanches large enough to bury a person.

This avalanche problem aligned with the WAC avalanche forecast for Wednesday for the Elkhorns. We dug into the snow on an East aspect at 8,500'. The height of snow was around 6 feet deep, and we found a stable snowpack. Roughly a foot of fresh snow from the past couple of days.

There are still plenty of rocks and trees to run yourself or gear into. A friend broke part of his split board in half running into a piece of granite.