Avalanche: Hatcher Pass

Location: Hatch Peak

Date:
Observer:
Party Hat Observers
Route & General Observations

Eventful day.
Standard route up to Hatch Peak. Skied April Bowl multiple times from a couple different angles, then finished up with a lap on $1000 run.

Avalanche Details
If this is an avalanche observation, click yes below and fill in the form as best as you can. If people were involved, please provide details.
Trigger NaturalRemote Trigger No
Avalanche Type GlideAspect Unknown
ElevationunknownSlope Angleunknown
Crown DepthunknownWidthunknown
Vertical Rununknown  
Avalanche Details

Lots of glide activity!
We actively witnessed a small piece of a previously released glide slide down at about 9am, above $1000 run.
Large glide release on the Willow Side of Hatcher Pass.
Glide release sometime in the afternoon on W face Marmot.

Cornice collapse near Hatch Peak entrained some snow.

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

Cornices were touchy after the storm!
We unintentionally triggered a cornice to fall near the summit of Hatch Peak, despite giving the edge a fair amount of space. This cornice entrained some snow as it fell. We noticed cracking along the ridge line at this cornice, then noticed cracking along almost all the ridge line cornices on subsequent laps. We intentionally broke a small cornice closer to Hatch Common.

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

Temps seemed to cool as the skies cleared up and wind slightly picked up.

Snow surface

Soft snow capped by a widespread, very thin crust. This crust was easily broken, making for decent ski quality.

Snowpack

Rode steep terrain w/o incident.

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.

Glide above $1000 run, moments after a small release.  

Glide above $1000 run. Photo taken near Hatch Common.  

Close up of Willow glide.  

Willow glide. Taken from Hatch Peak.  

Thin surface crust.  

Cornice fall entrained snow.  

Marmot glide release, sometime afternoon.  

Marmot glide close up.  

Look closely, you may see cracking along ridgeline cornices!  

Hatch Peak cornice fall.