January 16
Yellow Jacket, Alexander Basin, Gobblers Dead Snag, out Porter fork
Wear your earplugs, it is loud.
Elevations, slope angles and aspects
6100'-10400', angles over 35°, all aspects.
Snow conditions
Off aspects and south facing have experienced enough warming to form melt-freeze crusts of variable thickness.
The rime crust from the 11th is just beneath or on the surface in both Alexander Basin and the face of Gobblers. It varies in thickness.
In the sheltered meadows surface hoar was found which, along with recrystallization, is dissolving the crust.
Winds during and after the storm created havoc in upper Alexander, widespread scouring on Gobblers.
Weather
Sunny skies, warm in the sun, cool in the shade. Wind from the ene 10-15 mph along the ridges.
Avalanche activity
Two distinct avalanche cycles were observed in Alexander Basin.
Early in the recent storm, wind drifting created enough load to release most of the middle bowl from cornice fall.
The hanging snow field above cliffs, east facing upper Alexander, also dropped cornices with the avalanche only running to the flats.
Some sort of activity from wnw facing Wilson chutes, mostly concealed by continued wind.
At least one slide ran later or following snow fall, with a visible crown(pictured) in the east chute of Alexander, debris barely reaching lower angles.
Evaluation
Good stability in the areas traveled.
Isolated potential for active hard slab wind drifting. Wet activity with warming.
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