April 8
Cardiff and Mineral Fork.
Elevations, slope angles and aspects:
6500-11000', angles over 35°, all aspects.
Avalanche activity:
Storm on April 7th produced widespread avalanching,
example
most likely, during a period of heavy snowfall. The activity was limited to new snow only, many running on a density change and sluffing.
Two slides were triggered in the chutes, upper Cardiac bowl,
one in a wind drifted pocket, skier's right chute
and one about 10 turns down the skier's left chute. Skier's right was 15' wide, up to 16" deep and only ran about 50'. The skier's left was around 40' wide and only a few inches deep.The largest and widest crowns observed were in upper Mineral, room of doom and santiago, with slides running the full width of the paths. Other than the ski cut slides, no activity was observed after the storm.
Slopes skied:
Little Superior ne facing, Cardiac bowl, Mill b south entry from Superior and room or doom in Mineral Fork, exiting Mineral.
Snow conditions:
12-16" settled new snow was found in the upper elevations, less in Mineral. Lower elevations in Mineral had only about 6". New snow bonded well after the storm. Green housing, after noon, did add enough heat to produce mashed potatoes and crunchy snow, especially below about 9000', but no wet activity was observed on shady slopes.
Weather:
Partly cloudy in the am, with gradual increase in clouds, lowering and thickening later in the day. Winds were light and temperatures moderate.
Evaluation:
Mostly stable snow was found with some isolated active wind drifts. Future instability would be from heavy snowfall, increased wind or rapid warming.
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