| Recent Avalanches? | No |
| Collapsing (Whumphing)? | Yes |
| Cracking (Shooting cracks)? | No |
Observation: Hatcher Pass
Location: Microdot
Toured up Microdot to 4200′ to have a look at the snowpack
Obvious signs of instability
Observer Comments
Skiing down our uptrack below Ray Wallace Bowl on the West side of Microdot Ridge, we experienced one of the largest, longest whumphs of our lives. Dug down and found fist hard facets pouring out beneath a decomposing melt freeze crust. One small whumph further along the descent in the valley.
Weather
Broken clouds -> overcast -> broken clouds
Calm winds
Lightly snowing
Single digit temperatures
Snow surface
2" new low density snow. The snow was slightly wind affected along Microdot ridge.
Snowpack
Average snow depth along Microdot ridge from 3800 ft to 4200' - 80 cm. Depths ranged from 35 cm to 100 cm in places.
Hand pit at 4000' along standard uptrack: 27 cm of F hard new snow over 15 cm P hard wind slab over melt freeze crust over facets.
Snowpit 1 at 4236: Dug in a thin spot near the starting zone for one of the NW gullies on the windward side. CT16 SC, ECTP16&23 down 30 cm on F hard 3mm cupped facets under a decomposing melt freeze crust. See pit diagram below.
Snowpit 2 at 4203: Dug in a spot with a slab on the leeward side. ECTP 28 down 70 cm on F hard 1.5mm facets. See pit diagram below.
We did not find the patchy buried surface hoar above the melt freeze crust in any of our pits.
Snowpit 1 at 4236': ECTP16&23, CT16 SC down 30 cm in first hard 3mm cupped facets
Snowpit 2 at 4203': ECTP28 down 70 cm in first hard 1.5 mm facets
The 3mm cupped facets in snowpit 1 poured out of the side wall during pit excavation.
3-8" pencil hard wind slab lies under the new snow in many places along the Microdot standard uptrack.
Thin, early season conditions. Many rocks barely obscured by the new snow and plenty still above the snow surface.
Thin, early season conditions