Observation type
Snowpack Observer Ian bryant Keep me anonymous if published no Location (general area) Pine mountain Latitude Longitude Date (yyyymmdd) 20230408 Time 17:15 Road conditions to area Temperature 60 Sky clear (no clouds) Wind speed Calm (smoke rises vertically) Wind direction W Wind direction in degrees Slope aspect North West Aspect in degrees Slope angle 35 Elevation Snow depth >280 Boot/ Ski penetration Shin to thigh Activity, recent avalanches yes Brief description Rapid warming Whumphing noises, shooting cracks. collapsing no Rapid warming yes Obvious avalanche path yes Terrain trap yes Comment April 8th, 2023 Firm icy conditions early yielded to almost corn conditions as temps rose… We climbed acorn canyon above WW in dawn hours to destination pine mtn. Morning had us traveling on firm icy conditions where crampons and ice axe were needed. North and West aspects were bulletproof so at 10 am we dropped an east aspect along north backbone under pine mountain. Drop at approx 8800’ and rode down to 7700’. Snow had the look of corn but wasn’t quite corn yet as we found most of the snow we were to ride was in transition still. We climbed on and later summited. Dropped north gully and found some colder and drier snow up high near summit that was nice to ride, but soon found slower old hot powder below that was fun but laboring. Around 16:30 we were on top of acorn canyon and dropped north aspect where we careful not to set off several wet loose slides that weren’t necessarily large but concerning given the consistency. Fun day, but snow is still transitioning. Keep your head on a swivel. Publish this observation Yes I would like this observation Published |