Avalanche: Hatcher Pass

Location: Rae Wallace

Date:
Observer:
Heather Johnson
Route & General Observations

Started at 8pm for a quick post work ski up Rae Wallace. The small benches on the approach were already re freezing from the afternoon sun. Lots of new wet loose avalanches off the rocks in several of the chutes. While heading up the standard up chute, we observed several very small wet loose off the rocks on skinner left. Once on the ridge, anything in the shade on the south aspect was rock hard refrozen sun crust. Old tracks on the down were firming up and we noticed a thin sun crust forming halfway down the chute. The route back to the car was challenging due to the crust and pockets of wet snow grabbing your skis, making it very difficult to turn.

Avalanche Details
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Trigger NaturalRemote Trigger Unknown
Avalanche Type Wet Loose SnowAspect North
ElevationunknownSlope Angleunknown
Crown DepthunknownWidthunknown
Vertical Rununknown  
Avalanche Details

Lots of new wet loose off the rocks in several of the Rae Wallace chutes. The standard uptrack was active with several small wet loose of the rocks on skinner left. We made very quick work on the up as we did not want to be in there longer then needed. The chute lookers left of the standard uptrack had larger amount of debris running to the bottom of the curtain.

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

Daytime warming, active wet loose avalanches off the rocks

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

Clear sky 31 degrees at the car at start time from the independence lot. Calm wind.
Noticed the sun is now high enough that it is no longer being blocked by the skyscrapper ridge until well after 9PM.

Snow surface

Variable, suncrust was refreezing on the lower benches on the approach, snow dried a bit with elevation gain. However, old tracks are firming up and a sun crust is beginning to form in the chutes. Roller balls/debris ranged from rock hard to soft wet, untouched powder at the top of the chute was still soft but not as dry as we found earlier in the week. President side of the ridge was a rock hard melt freeze crust.

Photos & Video
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Large roller ball  

Wet loose avalanches in Rae Wallace  

Location
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