Observation: Turnagain

Location: Magnum - Superbowl / Cornbiscuit & Tincan

Date:
Observer:
Route & General Observations

General observations from last two days out ski touring in Turnagain Pass.
Monday: Magnum PMS bowl and Superbowl / Cornbiscuit area.
Tuesday: Tincan – Todds run.

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

Had one small whumph as we excited out of Superbowl. I felt the collapse, it seemed to have failed about 20-25cm down on facets below a crust, I did not observe it to propagate more than a few meters. Otherwise no Red Flags observed.

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

Cold mornings, cold in the shade, very enjoyable in the sun. Temps in the mid teens.
Calm to light variable wind from the SE-SW both days.

Snow surface

Fairly widespread 1mm - 1cm Surface Hoar on a mixed bag of variable surfaces including wind crusts, sun crusts, skier compacted snow and Near Surface Facets.
Keeping an eye on the surface inventory will be very important to consider for whenever the storms start rolling back in.

Snowpack

No full pits dug. Hand pits and surface observations show a cold, faceted and variable snowpack exists out there.
Lose Dry (facet sluffs) were my primary concern for areas traveled.