| Recent Avalanches? | Yes |
| Collapsing (Whumphing)? | No |
| Cracking (Shooting cracks)? | No |
Observation: Hatcher Pass
Location: Eldorado Bowl
Alaska Pacific University Snow Science 1 students seeking out the drier snow grains. Groups toured to Hatcher Pass proper and Eldorado Bowl.
Obvious signs of instability
Observer Comments
We did not observe obvious signs of instability. Recent wet loose roller balls observed on south aspects.
Weather
Nicer than expected weather till the late afternoon. Sky cover was variable from broken to overcast, until visibility went down the drain by 3:30pm. Temperatures hovered just below freezing throughout the day. Light wind from north. Sporadic flurries of light snow mixed in with rimed particles, snow accumulation ~ 1 cm.
Snow surface
Pesky 2-4cm melt freeze crust on lower elevations and on east/south aspects making the ski conditions less than ideal. At upper elevations on north aspects surface was mosaic of soft new snow and sastrugi.
Numerous debris piles and bed surfaces from the last weekend's avalanche cycle made the surface conditions variable.
Snowpack
We dug a snow pit at the Eldorado/Skyscraper ridge line at 4300' on N aspect on 32 deg slope right below the cornice to assess stability before skiing into the bowl. HS 165cm. Our main concern was 8cm layer of rounding facets 45 cm from the surface. Test results showed moderate strength, but high propagation potential and very poor structure.( ECTP13SP, CT12SP, Five lemons on layer of concern). We did not ski in to the bowl and skied back the normal up track.
Layer of rounding facets 45 cm from the surface was reactive in our tests.
Layer of concern through macroscope.