Observation: Hatcher Pass

Location: North end of Gold Cord basin

Date:
Observer:
Route & General Observations

Toured from Parking lost at end of road up thru Independence Mine bldgings to north end Gold Cord basin. Returned via lookers right along base of Sky Scraper Mtn.

Contact, Location & General Observations
Enter your contact information and a location for this observation. Note that you can submit anonymously, however if you would like to share your name with staff, but not the public, select No for "May we include your name in your observation"
Forecaster Comments

Most southerly sun heated slopes that sluffed, including Martin Mine area (north of Skyscraper) occurred 3/11.

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)?Yes
Observer Comments

Observed old point release avalanches on S. facing slopes of Sky Scraper Mtn and near Friendship Pass. Ski cut tests of wind slab on steep W-facing slopes along maintenance trail ridge produced cracking and small soft slab releases up to 6 inches thick an running for approx. 10 ft.

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

Party cloudy with calm winds. No new snow for many days. Warmed up considerably in the pm. Air temp -1 C in shade at 1300.

Snow surface

Thin layer of small surface hoar overlying 5 cm thick suncrust. Suncrust layer most prevalent on S. facing slopes. Loose recrystallized snow and near surface facets on lower angle slopes not affected by wind. Considerable evidence of windcrust at higher elevations.

Snowpack

5 cm thick suncrust overlying near-surface facets transitioning to rounds and rounding DH at base of snowpack. See attached snowpit profile and pic. Got CTN and ECTPV on rounding facets at base of snowpack. Lack of reaction on CT may be due to inadequate isolation of column. Got RB7 (pic).

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.