Observation: Hatcher Pass

Location: Cross Hill

Date:
Observer:
Route & General Observations

Toured from Independence Lot to Cross Hill to assess storm snow. Above Independence Mine there is over 10 inches while below Fishhook Lot there is 6-7 inches. With zero visibility I was unable to see any avalanches. I did not enter avalanche terrain and other than new snow penetration did not witness cracking or whumphing.

Red Flags
Red flags are simple visual clues that are a sign of potential avalanche danger. Please record any sign of red flags below.
Observer Comments

Boot penetration 10 inches (25cm) and ski penetration 7 inches (17cm)

Weather & Snow Characteristics
Please provide details to help us determine the weather and snowpack during the time this observation took place.
Weather

Overcast skies with S1 rate of snow, about 0.5 inches (1cm) per hour. The recent storm began on 1/13 around 3pm and ended around 5pm on 1/14 with 7-10 inches in 26 hours. The winds remained light with some moderate gusts near peaks and exposed ridgelines.

Snow surface

Soft with minimal wind affect. Stellars and Dendrites that were rimed, between 2-6mm in size. The storm snow was dry with right-side-up characteristics.

Snowpack

Shallow snowpack areas are well facetted and unconsolidated. Subsurface crusts and wind hardened layers have been weakened by faceting during the cold & dry weather. These weakened layers do have the potential to fail under moderate forces in stability tests. I did not see propagations in my ECTN13@74; CT14@74 BRK

Photos & Video
Please upload photos below. Maximum of 5 megabytes per image. Click here for help on resizing images. If you are having trouble uploading please email images separately to staff.