Avalanche: Seward

Location: Mt. Eeva

Date:
Observer:
Route & General Observations

Skinned up west aspect to ~300ft above treeline and dug a snowpit 1700ft. With warming temps and rapidly rising instability, especially on south facing terrain we stayed to low angle terrain on top of an elevated medial moraine towards the center of the bowl we were in. Skied down from our high point at 2200ft.

Avalanche Details
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Trigger NaturalRemote Trigger0
Avalanche Type Wet Loose SnowAspect South Southwest
Elevation 2700ftSlope Angle 40deg
Crown Depth 10inWidthunknown
Vertical Rununknown  
Avalanche Details

Lots of point release R1D1 avalanches and rollerballs actively avalanching as we approached our high point on South Aspects. We avoided potential runout zones by staying on a medial moraine feature well away and elevated above slide paths.

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

6-8in of new snow in past 2 days. N wind 5-10 knots

Snow surface

Noticeable wind loading on south aspect from recent high N winds. Light melt-freeze crust from yesterday

Snowpack

The layer of concern lies in the top 20cm of the snowpack. Another weak layer is below the top layer down another 30cm. Jamie and I dug pits close to one another and observed similar snow pack and test results.

Photos & Video
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