Observation: Turnagain

Location: Seattle Ridge, W Main Bowl

Date:
Observer:
Route & General Observations

Normal uptrack to Seattle Ridge to poke in at Main Bowl. Several parties skiing at Seattle Ridge. We shortened our tour with diminishing weather conditions at the upper elevation.

Red Flags
Red flags are simple visual clues that are a sign of potential avalanche danger. Please record any sign of red flags below.
Observer Comments

None observed.

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

No new precipitation observed during our tour.
Sky cover broken to overcast with a hint of obscured moving in from the Turnagain Arm.
At ridgeline, ESE moderate winds with speeds increasing steadily.
Temperatures in the high teens.

Snow surface

Variable surface snow at the ridge line due to pockets of wind impacted snow at higher elevation.
New 3-6mm surface hoar had formed overnight, most prominent above 2300' -it was still standing upright despite increasing winds.
Non- wind impacted surface snow consists of few inches of dry& faceting new snow from 11/25 and "loud powder" on the top. It sluffed easily on a 30+ degree slope.

Snowpack

All in all, snowpack seems to be less reactive than earlier this week.
Our observations are from West Main Bowl close to the ridgeline below a tree island. Aspect ENE. Elevation 2750'. Slope angle 35 degrees. Total snow height 105-120cm. Layer of concern 11/16 buried surface hoar (10"/25 cm from top), but did also get one failure lower down in the snowpack on facets below a melt freeze crust (24 '/60cm from top) Test results: CTV(SC); ECTN14(SC), ECTN12(SC) on buried surface hoar & ECTN24(SC) on crust/facets interface.

Photos & Video
Please upload photos below. Maximum of 5 megabytes per image. Click here for help on resizing images. If you are having trouble uploading please email images separately to staff.