Observation: Turnagain

Observer: Sean Fallon
2/16/13
Location: Petes South
SSW
1800′
47 degree slope

Weather:
Sky-Clear in am Overcast by 3:00pm
Wind-5-10mph out of NE
Temp- 15 degrees
Precip- none

Signs of Instability:
-Small shooting cracks, 1-2 feet on ridge wind slabs
-One small avalanche (8 foot wide crown) caused by a cornice chunk on the south face of
Pete’s North

Surface Conditions:
-6-12”s of low density snow on south faces
-Spongy wind slabs with small shooting cracks closer to the ridge
-Difficult breakable crust last 300′ of the run

Comments:
Our primary concern was determining if the January 29th rain crust had any weak grains
around it. We found it 75 cm below the surface on a SSW aspect at 1800 feet. Got a test result of
ECTX. That crust was a little too large (2-3cm) and had no impermeable nature. The densities on
either side of the crust were consistant and strong. We had no collapse at all during stability tests.
However if we had tested a bit higher we might have seen some more reactivity. We skied a line on
the south face of Pete’s South. Good light and blower snow. We had some sluff to contend with on
the steepest portion of our lines. The storm snow seamed to bond quite well already.