Observation: Summit

Location: Gilpatrick Mtn

Date:
Observer:
Route & General Observations

Toured up Gilpatrick along Forest Service trail, skied down meadows on southeast face. Sticky, grabby snow with some pockets of wet powder.

Wind scouring evident on Gilpatrick and surrounding peaks. Debris from large natural avalanches evident across the valley on west facing mountains.

11:00am – Overcast, ~30 degrees
2:00pm – Low clouds and snow started moving in, 32 degrees at ~2200 ft

Uptrack showed substantial wind drifts. We observed several whumphs and shooting cracks in some unsupported wind drifts while ascending.

Upon further inspection, the cracks appeared to form in a soft slab 6-8” deep. We kept to low angle slopes and did not trigger any slides on the ski down.