Observation: Hatcher Pass

Location: Peak 4068' to Seldom Seen

Date:
Observer:
Route & General Observations

Toured from the Fishhook lot up to 4068, and then partially to Gov’t Peak (Peak 4600??). Pretty crappy snow pack. There’s probably good skiing in Hatcher, somewhere, but it’s not there.

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

We only saw one natural avalanche. It was a little wind worn, so a few days old maybe? Map says it's a 32deg slope, didn't measure or inspect. Noticed that the debris stopped mid-slope after a few hundred feet, did not continue into the gut.

Early in the tour we felt many small-volume but large-area settling whoopfs, but no cracks, and no slides. When we got into steeper, more southerly terrain, it stopped and the snow didn't react.

Fresh tracks seen in the Marmot Couloir has lots of small sloughs, but no big runs or cracks.

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

Clear bright and still. Very cold in the lot, inversion temps

Snow surface

crap. every kind of wind jacked not-fun kind of snow there is. Highly spatially variable, every few feet was a new kind of not-fun snow.

Also noticed that all tracks have been wiped clean of all easterly aspects of Hatch Peak.

Snowpack

dug many quick hand pits, all were so different it's not worth really mentioning. Seemed like everything had been etch-a-sketched.

Photos & Video
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