Home > Trip Reports > April 10, 2010, Snoqualmie Pass

April 10, 2010, Snoqualmie Pass

4/10/10
WA Snoqualmie Pass
3947
6
Posted by Charlie Hagedorn on 4/10/10 10:37am
Will and I headed to the pass to hunt for powder. We found it in high and shady places, but it won't last if it gets much warmer. Observed instability was confined to our own sluff. There are sun/warming crusts about a foot down at lower elevations/in the sun at all elevations. Truly shady aspects had boot-top pow on skis, but foot penetration to well above the knee. Descending back to the car, we found increasingly heavy snow, with the expected solar effects at all elevations. Powdery pinwheels were forming but breaking up below 4.5k at 3:30 pm. Good snow, but we felt it was nearly expired. Beautiful day.

Alpy Patrol or WSDOT set off some impressive explosives starting at ~2 pm, but we didn't hear much of a rumble afterward.

Also - we got a good gander at yesterday's slide. The picture seems to tell the story - please refrain from any snarky comments at the injured party; an avalanche is rebuke enough for any error they may or may not have committed. We've decided to post the photo now, while everyone still has our current snowpack in mind. The crown seems confined to an aspect that gets different windloading from the rest of the main bowl. A number of skiers skied both treed and sunny slopes below the deposition zone today without moving any snow we could see (we skied haggis' route on our first lap and found nothing unsettling at all - nice line).
Bummed to hear about that accident.  Hope everyone recovers.

I've seen quite a few naturals in that pocket.  There was one there last Friday (4/2).  I think the wind really rips over the ridge right there.

Thanks for the photos. Those drift lines certainly tell an interesting story about wind direction.

That does clear some things up. Thanks for posting the picture as it's a familiar place to alot of us and a good reminder. I haven't been up since last sat but the wind was something then too. I'll probably head up in the morning and see what you all left.

I was just about to post that same picture of the slide.  We were the party skiing the trees farther to the east of the bowl.  The fracture up high was quite impressive.  But it was also interesting that the slide did not really effect the snow in the lower bowl at all - it just slid on top, and maybe pulled the top two inches.  In our pits on the open slopes we could not get anything to move at all, and I had no concerns about the stability on the lower parts of the slopes. 

My observation of this area this year is that there has been more wind from the E/NE and it has loaded the upper slopes more than usual.  We saw one other fracture line up near the ridge about 2000 yards to the east - it much have been natural and occurred Friday as well.


Explosives were from the Alp Patrol- Cornice work.  Small charges produced big results!

author=trumpetsailor link=topic=16335.msg68218#msg68218 date=1270949844]The picture seems to tell the story - please refrain from any snarky comments at the injured party; an avalanche is rebuke enough for any error they may or may not have committed. We've decided to post the photo now, while everyone still has our current snowpack in mind. The crown seems confined to an aspect that gets different windloading from the rest of the main bowl.


It's interesting to note that one could erroneously think they were safe in the trees on that route.  Thanks for the pic Trump

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april-10-2010-snoqualmie-pass
Charlie Hagedorn
2010-04-10 17:37:24