According to IM data and boots on the ground Saturday, it looks like HP received 10-12" of new snow 12/18.
Observation: Hatcher Pass
Location: Willow Creek
We hunted on skis on the West side of Hatcher Pass near Bullion Mountain.
There is a very responsive, but discontinuous crust layer under about 1ft+ of soft snow.
Very loose snow made for deep trail breaking everywhere, generally boot deep.
Where the crust is absent ski penetration while skinning is knee to thigh deep.
Where the crust is present the whumpfs are large and frequent.
Several whumpfs remote triggered shooting cracks on steep rollovers and cutbanks on creeks (some examples pictured). Had these slopes been taller I’m sure they would have avalanched. It might be reasonable to assume that steeper slopes along Upper Willow Creek and Dog Sled Pass have similar active snowpacks that can remote trigger.
Forecaster Comments
Obvious signs of instability
| Recent Avalanches? | No |
| Collapsing (Whumphing)? | Yes |
| Cracking (Shooting cracks)? | Yes |
Weather
Snowed about 3" in the morning before the light winds switched from SE to NW, blue skies overhead after that.
This small slab remote triggered from the skin track behind it.
This crack remotely triggered about 8ft from the skier and shot for 100ft. Portions of the crack opened more than 1" wide.