Observation: Turnagain

Location: Eddies

Date:
Observer:
Route & General Observations

10:15am -16:15pm
My partner and I ascended the lower, standard approach towards Eddies’ open meadows. We encountered moist surface snow, with a thin crust approx 4cm below from 500ft to 1,000ft. We intended on assessing wind affect, and decided to conduct instability tests at our high point, 2,460ft. We received results, with BSH being our LOC, and decided to ski a few delightful laps within the trees. Broken Skies, and Valley Fog were present, which gradually deteriorated to Overcast, but gratefully encountered no wind, and S-1 from 3pm +.

Red Flags
Red flags are simple visual clues that are a sign of potential avalanche danger. Please record any sign of red flags below.
Obvious signs of instability
Recent Avalanches?No
Collapsing (Whumphing)?Yes
Cracking (Shooting cracks)?No
Observer Comments

Experienced significant whumphing on a convexity, while traversing one at at time through a rollover. Conducted a few ski tests with no results.
Stepping out of skin track produced a localized collapse, within the first 10-30cm of 4F wind compacted Rounds in many wind-affected areas above 2,000ft.

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

10:15-1300: Broken Skies with dense Valley Fog from 500ft-1,200ft with temps around -1°C to -4°C. Calm winds.
13:00-16:15 Gradually deteriorating Overcast skies, calm to light winds from south, with temps between -5°C-1°C.
Valley Fog lifted around 3pm and S-1 precip.

Snow surface

Moist snow encountered from 600ft-1,000ft
2-4cm of fresh, dry snow above 1,200ft.
Riming was widely present on all surfaces from 1,000ft+ !
Many wind-affected areas of variable depth, 4F-1F hardness, were present on exposed ridges above 2,000ft, but no active or previous wind-scouring visible on Eddies.
Ski/Boot PEN: 30cm/ 70cm

Snowpack

In general, the first 10-20cm below surface were wind-affected with compacted rounds above 1,500ft. Our intentions for instability tests were to find the elusive MLK Jr. BSH, and we found it! We considered the BSH our Layer of Concern (LOC), and received results 68cm below surface. Hand pit tests produced consistent, easy, approx. 40cm down on rounds, possibly the New/Old interface.

*See SnowPilot and Hardness Profile for details*

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