Observation type
Avalanche
Keep me anonymous if published
yes
Location (general area)
Ice House Canyon, San Gabriel range 
Date (yyyymmdd)
2/19/2017
Time
9:00 
Temperature
High 30's
Sky
Overcast (sky covered)
Wind speed
not observed
Wind direction
not observed
Slope aspect
South West
Slope angle
30
Elevation
6800
Precipitation
None
Activity, recent avalanches
yes
Brief description
Numerous recent avalanches (likely 2/18) on both sides of Icehouse canyon ending on the canyon floor. One fairly large slide crossed the bootpacked trail just above Columbine Spring at which point we retreated. We did not proceed off-trail as planned so could not determine snow stability.
Obvious avalanche path
yes
Comment
While I am by no means highly trained in avalanche nor snow conditions, the snow was dense and heavy and the avalanches likely occurred on 2/18 after a warming period and possibly after rain that day. You can see a slab release in one of the photos just above the trail. The snow seemed fairly stable and consolidated from the nightly re-freeze, however temps were forecast to reach the low 40's, so our group agreed more avalanches were likely to occur as the day warmed so we retreated.

Publish this observation
Yes I would like this observation Published

Avalanche just above Icehouse Canyon trail

Avalanche across Icehouse Canyon trail