We were caving in Polygamy's End cave and when we hiked in we crossed two slides probably from the day before. They were about 300' long and 6-8" deep. We got across the slides and the edge of the new snow had a layer of medium density on 6-8" of light snow on a solid sheet of ice. As I looked across there was a crack about 50'-75' across. After we came out of the cave there was about 18"-24" and deeper with blowing drifts. Everywhere we looked there were cracks through the surfaces and sometimes cracks that connected to others. One 10' high 45 degree slope on the side of a ravine was observed by others in the group to separate a few inches as Iwalked along the bottom of it. It was the most unstable conditions I have seen in all my years of snowshoeing. The road in and out of Tony's Grove had an ice surface with 10-12" of powder on top and in it was difficult to not slip as you walked on it.
Red Flags
Recent Avalanches
Heavy Snowfall
Wind Loading
Cracking
Red Flag Comments:
Sun came out as we left and I imagine with warming it could get very dangerous on those east facing slopes.
snow_profile_location:
Observed Danger Rating:
High
Forecast Danger Rating:
Extreme
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We were caving in Polygamy's End cave and when we hiked in we crossed two slides probably from the day before. They were about 300' long and 6-8" deep. We got across the slides and the edge of the new snow had a layer of medium density on 6-8" of light snow on a solid sheet of ice. As I looked across there was a crack about 50'-75' across. After we came out of the cave there was about 18"-24" and deeper with blowing drifts. Everywhere we looked there were cracks through the surfaces and sometimes cracks that connected to others. One 10' high 45 degree slope on the side of a ravine was observed by others in the group to separate a few inches as Iwalked along the bottom of it. It was the most unstable conditions I have seen in all my years of snowshoeing. The road in and out of Tony's Grove had an ice surface with 10-12" of powder on top and in it was difficult to not slip as you walked on it.