Episode 5 of the UAC podcast "To Hell in a Heartbeat - A Conversation With Tom Diegel and Matt Clevenger About the 12.26.08 Full Burial on Little Water" is live. Matt and Tom talk about the avalanche documented in To Hell in a Heartbeat. Check it out on ITunes, Stitcher, the UAC blog.
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The story is the wind. Starting yesterday and blowing from the south, ridge top winds have been averaging 30-35 mph with gusts to 60. Gold Basin is reporting just under 2" of snow this morning with no current data available from the Geyser Pass Trailhead. 10,000' temps are in the mid teens.
I had high hopes this would be the storm to put us over the top but it appears to be backing off. It looks like we'll see 4-6" over the next 24 hours but we could be surprised. Winds have hammered the high country, and coverage reamins thin. People have started venturing off trail, both on sleds and skis, but it's still very heads up and there are many obstacles and land mines out there.
Base depth at Geyser Pass Trailhead: 23"
Base depth in Gold Basin: 34"
New snow totals in Gold Basin.
Snow totals at the Geyser Pass Trailhead, (9600')
Wind, temperature, and humidity on Pre Laurel Peak (11,700')
Road conditions to Geyser Pass Trailhead: Expect to find a few inches of accumulating and drifted snow increasing through the day. 4wd is required.
Grooming conditions: Trails were last groomed on Friday.
Dave Garcia observed the first significant avalanche activity of the season in Talking Mountain Cirque. The slides likely occurred on Thursday when the new snow load finally tipped the balance on our weak snowpack. And Justin Caggiano reported a natural avalanche on the North Face of South Mountain. Strong winds and additional snow could produce more natural avalanches such as this, and the weight of a skier or rider will almost certainly do so in this type of terrain.
Natural avalanche in Talking Mountain Cirque. Dave Garcia photo.