Observation: Turnagain

Location: Tincan

Date:
Observer:
Route & General Observations

Ascended to top of Common, descended via CFR.

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

All solar aspects have recent wet loose or wet slab avalanches on them. Solar aspects on Seattle Ridge and Eddies were total carnage. Lots of glide cracks that have released to ground.

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

Temps in the mid 30's. Wind calm to light from the east. Abundant sunshine.

Snow surface

Supportable crust on all aspects below about 2500 ft elevation. Above 2500 ft, northerly aspects have 1-2 inches of near surface facets and 2-3 mm surface hoar. Southerly and solar aspects have well developed melt freeze grains that begin to soften up around noon. While digging pits on southerly aspects we noticed a pronouned warming of the upper 6 inches of the snowpack. During the hour we were in our snowpits, it transitioned from bring so stout it felt like chipping away at concrete in the upper 6 inches, to softening to perfect corn ripe for harvesting around 1:45 pm as we finished up. CFR ridge was nice skiing with a few inches of recycled pow on a very firm crust. Skiing out Tincan Trees on NW and W aspects at around 2:30 pm, the surface had not softened up as much as we would have hoped or liked. Very crusty in spots, breakable, and grabby on your skis.

Snowpack

We dug four pits:

Pit 1:
Hippy Bowl
3200 ft
South aspect
40 degree slope
HS > 270 cm
TD = 120 cm
CT29 RP down 40 cm, ECTX
No obvious PWL's identified
Top 15 cm were 1F+ melt freeze grains transitioning to P hard snow that appeared to be layers of old wind slab, increasingly dry and firm with depth.

Pit 2:
Same location, elevation, aspect, slope angle as Pit 1.
HS > 270 cm
TD = 120 cm
CTN, ECTX
Similar structure

Pit 3:
North side of CFR
3200 ft
North aspect
30 degree slope
HS > 270 cm
TD = 140 cm
CTN, column broke at base as cohesive unit when pried on
Surface was 2-3 mm surface hoar, on 5 cm 4F NSFs, on 15 cm of 1F settled storm snow, on P old wind slabs to bottom of snow

Pit 4:
Same location, elevation, aspect, and slope angle as Pit 3
HS > 270 cm
TD = 130 cm
ECTX
April 1 BSH found 15 cm down, intact, but laid over, not rounding. Not reactive in tests, but does present as a shear interface when test columns are sheared with a shovel.

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