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Professional Observation

Basic Information

Observation Details

Observation Date:
March 11, 2023 - March 11, 2023
Submitted:
March 12, 2023
Observer:
Pro
Zone or Region:
Lick Creek Area
Location:
Lower lick creek

Signs of Unstable Snow

Recent Avalanches? 
Yes
Cracking? 
None Experienced
Collapsing? 
None Experienced
Evidence of widespread natural activity from during Friday 3/10/23 storm

Snow Stability

Stability Rating: 
Fair
Confidence in Rating: 
Moderate
Stability Trend: 
Improving

Bottom Line

Evidence of a widespread natural avalanche cycle during the storm on Friday. Tiptoed into steeper terrain testing many small roll overs and small wind slabs on a variety of aspects without any movement. Felt comfortable in large avalanche paths that had already slide, but minimized exposure and moved 1 at a time through the terrain. Did not feel any collapsing or have any cracking but still didn’t trust the snow and steered clear of large wind pillows and dune features. Cornice development on eastern side of ridges was significant (4+ feet of growth). We gave these new behemoths a wide berth.

Media

Small crowns in lower terrain from Friday 3/10/23 storm.
Fresh bear tracks on the snowmobile road on the way out.

Advanced Information

Weather Summary

Cloud Cover:
Mostly Cloudy
Temperature:
25
Wind:
Moderate , SW

Sun breaks here and there allowed for some solar aspects to develop a thin crust.

Avalanche Observations

 #  Date Location Size Type Bed Sfc Depth Trigger Comments Photo
1 Past 24 hours Large avalanche path
W 7500 		D2.5 SS I-New/Old Interface 1-2 feet N-Natural Large avalanche that ran during the storm and had refilled crown lines and smoothed over the avalanche debris. Total length it ran 1500-1800’
Large avalanche from 3/10/23 storm
1
Looking down avalanche debris.
2 Past 24 hours East side
E 8000’ 		D1 SS I-New/Old Interface 1 foot N-Natural Looked to be a cornice break to trigger a slide during the storm.
Cornice break triggered slide on east aspect off ridge.
3 Past 24 hours West facing terrain
W 7500’ 		D2 SS I-New/Old Interface 1 foot N-Natural Natural slide from during 3/10/23 storm. Total length ran 800-1000’. These were not loose sluffs that stayed in gullies but large slides that spanned the slide path.

Snowpack Observations

Did not dig a pit. Quick hand pits showed new snow sitting on a thin crust (on SW aspect) with moderate force to break. Snow did not have “slabby” feeling in this area.

Terrain Use

Starting up our ascent, we had every intention of turning around at the first sign of instability understanding our terrain choice for a considerable day was a bit aggressive. However, we never had any collapsing or cracking. Small test slopes did not produce any results and jumping on wind loaded micro rollover terrain features did not result in any movement of snow. We proceeded with caution and felt better as the mountains were not talking to us. Having seen the widespread natural cycle that “cleaned out” the layer of concern, we felt ok being in areas that had already avalanched during fridays storm, but stayed weary of any areas that had not. Lots of wind whales and wind pillows near the ridges did not break or crack when jumped on. We kept our skiing to old growth trees, or to slide paths that had already run and had set up. Quite frankly, we were surprised at the lack of signs of instabilities in this area given the amount of new snow and wind from Friday. Ski cuts did not produce any results and there was very little to any loose snow sluffing.

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