11/30/12 Wa Pass
11/30/12
WA Cascades East Slopes North
40946
10
Observed a few natural avalanches today near Washington Pass. They were caused by moderate SW winds and ran approximately 300 to 400 vertical feet. Most were in the size one range but a few were pushing size two. All of the observed avalanches were on north through east aspects near 7,500'.
Ski quality was very good with ski penetration in the 15 to 20 cm range.
Sorry about the boring trip report. The snowpack information exchange is down right now so I'm attempting to share observations here. I'll try to add a few pictures to make it more interesting.
Ski quality was very good with ski penetration in the 15 to 20 cm range.
Sorry about the boring trip report. The snowpack information exchange is down right now so I'm attempting to share observations here. I'll try to add a few pictures to make it more interesting.
Not boring, useful! It is helpful to hear how conditions are looking up there; thanks for the information.
Agreed. Thanks for the report!
Thanks for the info Jeff. It is good to know that when we got glop over here you are enjoying goodness.
Gregg
Gregg
I live in sedro-woolley and am interested in exploring some of the terrain off of hwy 20. Any suggestions?
Would that be Mr. Sawtell exercising his ankle in the second pic?
I wish it was!
Willow Creek? In any case, I'm always interested in WA Pass area reports. Thanks!
author=Good2Go link=topic=26299.msg110971#msg110971 date=1354411576]
Willow Creek?
Not Willow, Hairpin Valley.
I was up there again on Saturday. Observed quite a few natural avalanches and a few small skier triggered avalanches. The skier triggered avalanches were running on surface hoar down 30 cms (up to 10 mm in size). The larger (size 2) avalanches were most likely wind slabs near ridge crest.
The surface hoar became more reactive towards the end of the day, most likely due slab settlement. The slab above the sh was still only fist density but had just enough cohesion to be a slab. Towards the end of the day we were getting a lot of large whoomphs and shooting cracks as well as one very small remotely triggered avalanche on a tiny unsupported feature.
Kept things pretty mellow but did manage to get some good skiing in.
Not enough warning to get a shot of your run on Sat but did get a distant shot of your client. Didn't go that far today, report of our findings in December TRs.
Good seeing you in the mountains Saturday. Sounds like things got a little spicy on Sunday. Glad you were still able to get out and enjoy it. I'm sure we'll see each other soon. Skiing looks like it's going to be good for a while.....
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