Observation: Other Regions

Location: Whitter

Date:
Observer:
Route & General Observations

Whittier to a high point of ~4,400′.

Avalanche Details
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Avalanche Details

A couple storm slabs observed above Burns Glacier. Appeared to be 12-18" thick, likely just storm snow. Wet loose easy to initiate on steep southerlies below about 1500'.

Note: My partner and I had a close call with a bergschrund today. Photo below. He was descending on his snowboard and opened up the schrund ~6' in front of his board. Fortunately he put a hard heel edge in and was able to stop, then traverse skiers right into mellower terrain without incident. If folks are skiing/ riding on the ice fields this spring, please gear up with appropriate crevasse rescue kits, harnesses (worn by everyone) and the skills to know how to affect a safe and successful crevasse rescue.

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

Recent storm slabs ~12-18" deep.

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

Skies clearing throughout the day. Winds were calm but started picking up from the WNW around 6pm. 41 degrees in town at 2pm.

Snow surface

A couple inches of new snow overnight. Moist surface below ~1500 and dried out with elevation. We found cold, dry snow at upper elevations on N aspects, around 4,000'.

Snowpack

Dug a pit at 4,000' on a N aspect. ECTN down 45cm on a storm interface. Felt consistent with the storm slabs we were seeing earlier in the day. Right-side up snowpack.

Photos & Video
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