Observation: Electric Lake

Observation Date
2/27/2022
Observer Name
Magerl
Region
Skyline » Huntington Canyon » Electric Lake
Location Name or Route
Electric Lake area
Weather
Sky
Scattered
Wind Speed
Light
Weather Comments
Sunny and hot early, before a slight breeze picked up and clouds started to come in around 1 P.M.
Snow Characteristics
Snow Surface Conditions
Powder
Melt-Freeze Crust
Snow Characteristics Comments
South facing at 9,050' had a melt/freeze crust of about one inch on the surface. Surprised to find no crust in the morning on SW facing. By midday the NE facing had become damp. The early afternoon clouds might have spared the west-facing, but uncertain of that.
Red Flags
Red Flags
Recent Avalanches
Cracking
Collapsing
Red Flags Comments
Amazing to experience almost continual cracking and collapsing while putting in skin tracks. We were never on anything steeper than 30, and nothing broke free. A ENE-facing pit at 9,000' had about 25 cm of fluff on top, then a 5-8 cm crust covering about 20 cm of sugar. Pretty easy to see why there were so many collapses. Looking across at the area above Electric Lake boat ramp we could spot multiple small crowns on NW-facing at about 9,100'. About a half mile to the west on a NE-facing slope that has frequent small slides, we could only spot one small slough, despite multiple sled tracks from Saturday.
Today's Observed Danger Rating
Considerable
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
Considerable