May 13

Area:
White Pine

Elevations, slope angles and aspects:

7500’-10200’, angles to 40°, northerly aspects.

Scotties, viewed from the bottom.

Avalanche activity:
Some recent wet slide activity from the last few days of warm temperatures and a lack of a refreeze.

Slopes skied:

Lake Peak

and Red Baldy

Timp, from the top of Red Baldy

Snow surface and conditions:
Another round of above average temperatures have melted snow line to around 9000’. Walked to the large mid elevation meadow before I put on skis and it was a chore to thrash through the shrubs for access to the main Red Baldy gully.


Snow above the meadow is solid cover. The lack of a refreeze made the last storm snow soggy, with very slow skiing and soaked climbing skins. The underlying pack is summer snow and quite supportable. Pole probing identified several solid crusts. Ski cuts did produce some minor rollers and point releases within the top few inches. None of those ran very far.

Weather:
It was a warm sunny day, unfortunate for the middle of May.

Evaluation:

Summer snow and little avalanche activity combined with the recent melt leads to the conclusion that the remaining snow will melt in place without further avalanche activity. An isolated potential remains for full depth glide and wet slabs in areas retaining the weak depth hoar base.

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