Observation: Summit

Location: Manitoba

Date:
Observer:
Route & General Observations

We skinned up from the Manitoba hut on the normal uprack to 3070 ft. and dug a pit before skiing down from our pit location, slightly below the ridge top.

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

While we did not see any of these red flags at Manitoba, we did see results from natural activity in steeper terrain while driving back in the afternoon. See attached photo for an avalanche we saw at MP 53 on the East side of the Seward Highway.

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

A low hanging broken cloud layer with mostly clear skies above. Light breeze, and very light snow falling.

Snow surface

At the cabin, a hard, punchy crust existed on the top of the shallow snowpack. As we climbed, the snow pack got deeper and the crust grew thinner until slightly above tree line where the crust disappeared and the snow pack was the deepest we saw.

Snowpack

Hard ice layer near the ground with a layer of facets on top of it, caused a collapse during a CT, but we did not get the same results with an ECT. However, the ECT column may not have been properly isolated leading to these inconsistent results.

Photos & Video
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