Observation: Turnagain

Location: Eddies/Tincan

Date:
Observer:
Route & General Observations

We toured to ridgeline on Eddies and Tincan. We saw fresh surface hoar up to the ridgelines, with average 6-8mm size on Eddies and slightly smaller on Tincan. Solar aspects now have a crust that is supportable on some slopes and breakable on others. There was a lot of recent dry loose activity in steep terrain on shaded aspects, with roller balls triggering loose avalanches recently on solar aspects.

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

A few hours of sunshine at the pass this morning before clouds moved in late morning/early afternoon. Clouds cleared quickly, with plenty of sunshine by late afternoon. Winds were calm in the morning, with a light southwesterly breeze later in the day.

Snow surface

The sun is starting to have a noticeable effect on surfaces, with crusts on solar aspects and cold, dry snow on shaded slopes. Widespread surface hoar from valley to ridgetop on all aspects, with around 4" loose snow on most shaded aspects.

Snowpack

We did not dig any study pits today, but we did notice several older layers of wind slabs in hand pits along the skin track. We did not get on any slopes that were recently wind loaded, but older wind slabs were stubborn in hasty hand pits. It was easy to identify the persistent weak layers on top of a crust at lower elvations (~1100') with pole probes. There was plenty of debris from recent loose snow avalanches on all aspects, rollerballs on solar aspects, and a few small wind slabs that were probably 2 days old on northerly aspects. No signs of recent activity on the persistent weak layers.

Photos & Video
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