October 31

clearing

From the Mineral Fork ridge.

Elevations, slope angles and aspects

7200-10200', angles over 35°, north facing aspects

Snow conditions

Three or four inches fresh at the trailhead, increasing with elevation to about eight inches in upper elevation shady.

New snow was of moderate density. Muffled collapsing from about 8400 to over 9k. Most was associated with underlying ground cover.

No collapsing in the upper bowl.

Weather

Low clouds obscured the peaks till about mid day. Clearing in the afternoon, warming temperatures were melting lower elevation snow.

Winds were light from the north.

Avalanche activity

Two natural avalanches in "Room of Doom". Both were early in the storm, 6"+ over the bed surface.

The largest was 80-100' wide, running several hundred feet. Old snow weak layer.

Snow pit

mineral-snowpit

Evaluation

Mostly stable snow. Collapsing indicates continued instability in localized areas.

Underlying snow pack on the shady side is weak but lacking load. Increasing wind and or snow could activate that layering.

mineral-fork

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