Winds blew in the 20s mph yesterday, shifting and changing directions as multiple observers noted transport of fresh snow at ridgeline. These slabs of wind-drifted snow may be surprisingly sensitive or loaded into areas skied in previous days...Similar to the wind slab triggered by a party traversing the Mt. Superior ridgeline yesterday, which has seen more skier traffic than the eyes could count since Friday. While these may be small, they can knock you off your feet quite easily….be mindful of what you’re skiing over.

These can run potentially run fast and far if you find a pocket of buried near surface facets or the isolated buried surface hoar from before our most recent storm, like the skier-triggered slide on Square Top.

A group of skiers triggered a second avalanche (climber's right) on Square Top (9600', NE). Photo by Deutschlander

Over two feet of our newest snow has seen two days of full sun (in some areas) and warming temperatures. Today, temps continue to climb above freezing with another day of sun. Expect the new snow to warm throughout the day on slopes that face the sun, with the chance of wet snow avalanches increasing into the afternoon.

Watch the surface snow throughout the day. If you're noticing its becoming more wet and saturated—easier to make a snowball with—then these slides are on the menu. Wet, loose avalanches are most likely on steep slopes close to rocky outcroppings—like a snowboarder on the SE face of Davenport saw yesterday afternoon. Roller balls and pin wheels are warning signs to change aspects or head back to the truck.

A snowboarder triggered a small wet loose slide in the afternoon yesterday on a rocky, SE-facing slope on Davenport Hill 8" deep and 30' wide. They were carried a short distance before riding away.

The story has two chapters: first, we have weak, old snow at the base of the snowpack on upper and mid-elevation W-N-E facing slopes. We are also seeing layers of weak snow adjacent to the Christmas Eve Rain Crust (CERC). Think they're old news? These layers resulted in a full burial (minus a hand) on Monday on First Cornice, as well as an avalanche large enough to bury a person that ran to the ground in Upper Days on Tuesday (Oingo Boingo). We've added over two feet of snow since.

The issue here is spatial variability. The supportability of the CERC, as well as the development of the facets adjacent to it, vary widely from slope to slope. Steep, rocky, higher W-N-E facing terrain that has been wind-loaded is most suspect.