Observation: Turnagain

Location: Eddies skintrack

Date:
Observer:
Route & General Observations

We skinned the normal early-season route through about 4-5″ of fresh new snow. Windy in the parking lot, and sporadic wind knocking snow off trees through lower skintrack. First main meadow out of the trees had a soft windslab forming that was easy to break trail through and ski down through.

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)?No
Cracking (Shooting cracks)?Yes
Observer Comments

At the first and main steep roll there was an obvious wind-loaded pillow on the knoll with the skintrack to the lookers left. I tapped a ski tip into it out of curiosity and a big crack shot up above me roughly 15-20' above me and maybe 10' across in the shape of a slab avalanche but didn't slide downhill. I didn't probe around but it seemed to be about a 1-foot thick slab that was the new wind-loaded snow over the old windslab.

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

Roughly 5" of new snow, windblown, with a soft windslab in the lower meadow.

Photos & Video
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