January 9
Bowman to Yellow Jacket-Toots to Boot-Bowman
Elevations, slope angle and aspects:
6200'-8900', angles over 35°, north, northwest and east-southeast facing
Avalanche activity:
Cornice drops produced shallow new snow slides of recent wind loaded,
which didn't propagate. Poor visibility and strong winds prevented other observations.
Slopes skied:
East facing corner of Toots to Boot into Alexander Basin and north slide path off the Yellow Jacket ridge.
Snow conditions:
6" new snow at the trail head, about 10" above 8500'. Storm snow added another couple of inches. Increased wind during storm progression, created a higher density snow cap, slabbing new snow, both along the ridges and lower on the hills.
Weather:
Overcast to foggy. Winds from the west, gusting over 20mph. Moderate temperatures.
Evaluation:
Yet another windy snow storm. I'd once again expect natural activity on lee slopes. Since recent layering is without faceted weaknesses, most instability should heal quickly. Older deeper weak layer stability is once again questionable, from another round of rapid loading.
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