Observation: Turnagain

Location: Magnum NW ridge

Date:
Observer:
Route & General Observations

Skinned up the Standard route on Magnum’s NW ridge to about 2800′

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

Wind loading on Seattle Ridge until about 11:30am from a NW wind direction.
Recent natural avalanche on Seattle Ridge above Granite Creek camp ground.

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

Clear skies
Cold, but inverted. 15F at road, 20's at higher elevations
Winds on Magnum were from the East, 10mph
No Precip

Snow surface

1000'- 1500' - 1cm surface hoar and near surface facets
1600'-2800' - near surface faceting where snow was loose or a thin (5mm) wind skin in areas exposed to wind

Snowpack

At road level there is 10" of snow
10-20" of snow until about 2000'

*Snowpack is thin along the NW shoulder of Magnum, 10-20" total. Found a thin crust near the ground in all hand pits, but only found the buried surface hoar layer in a few hand pits along the ridge. Probed around onto the West face and found a deeper snow pack, A 100-130cm (3-4 ft.) Dug a pit at 2545' and found the buried surface hoar 15"(40cm) below the surface. Pit showed poor structure and tests still indicate propagation potential, but required strong force. CT23, ECTP25, ECTP28 (SC)
The first 12" (30cm) of snow near the ground was still moist melt freeze grains... likely the reason glides are active right now.

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.