| Recent Avalanches? | Yes |
| Collapsing (Whumphing)? | No |
| Cracking (Shooting cracks)? | No |
Observation: Turnagain
Location: Sunburst
Standard skin track to check out the skier triggered slide that occurred the day before 4.13.17 around 4:30 pm.
We dug just above the slide but did not do a crown profile due to hazard from warming snowpack.
Obvious signs of instability
Observer Comments
Observed 4 natural avalanches (size D2) on Seattle Ridge during the time we were in the field
Warm temperatures and water in the upper snowpack
Weather
Clear and sunny
Temperatures in the high 30Fs on the Sunburst wx station, high 40Fs at Center Ridge Snotel
Calm winds
Snow surface
Wet on Southerly slopes
Damp to dry on W to NW
Hard crust on lower angle to start and then a couple inches of corn by 5 pm.
Snowpack
Did a fair bit of pole probing along the route. Solid freeze down low was hard to punch through but became softer and easy to penetrate as we climbed in elevation. Mixture of wet snow and crusts transitioning to wet snow over damp snow over rain crust between 1800' and 2200'. Up to 3300' there was 10 cm of wet snow over 30-50 cm of drier snow over sun crust on steeper terrain or old wind slab in less steep leeward terrain.
We dug in at 3250 above the avalanche that was triggered the day prior.
HS: 130, S aspect, 23 degrees
There was 15 cm of very wet snow over 30 cm of damp snow over 45 cm of stiff Pencil hard wind slab over 40 cm of moist Fist hard depth hoar to the ground (3-4mm).
CT 25 on facets. We could not get cord to cut through the wind slab for ECT... even the G3 cord!
Seattle Ridge avalanche observed while we were getting our boots on @ 1 pm, photo taken from the skin track
Wendy surveying the Seattle Ridge glide avalanches, wet avalanches and April Fool's storm debris
Glide near uptrack observed on 4.13.17
Wet slide observed on Seattle Ridge while we were digging on Sunburst @ 4 pm
Pit on Sunburst @ 3250' S aspect, 23 degrees
Crown of Sunburst avalanche skier triggered on 4.13.17 around 4:30 pm
Sunburst avalanche
Wendy near the toe of the debris
Another view of the wet slab we watched in motion earlier in the day from the moto lot @ 6 pm