April 28

White Pine-Red Baldy

Elevations, slope angles and aspects

7800-11k, angles over 35°, north facing aspects.

Snow conditions

Snow surface was crusted in the morning, stout on off aspects.

Upper elevation shady was also crusted with a few patches of dry powder scattered here and there.

Wind was scouring upper elevation west facing,

redtop-wind

drifting lee aspects.

Daytime heating, despite the wind, softened the crust, providing good snocone snow for a coupla thousand vert before hitting the lower elevation soggy.

Weather

Partly cloudy skies early, high clouds moving in by afternoon. Moderate temperatures. Wind from the wsw, gusting over 30 mph at upper elevations.

Avalanche activity

Zoomed view of Tanners

gulch

Looks like a 180° in the funnel, not too deep, new snow only, ran an amazing distance with the sightseer's debris pile near the road.

Box Elder

eface-boxelder

Viewed a large natural on the ese face of Box Elder. A portion of the crown extended over to the ne face.

Looks like it took out most of the path, running several thousand vertical.

lower-basin

Skier triggered, east facing, lower Boulder Basin exit. Rollers and a shallow wet slab produced after the east facing heated.

Evaluation

Wind drifting and heat related instabilities.

Weather guess has yet another storm on tap so...

instability would be dependent on bonding of new snow to old surface and density changes within new snow.

Drifting likely, wet activity with warming, doesn't take much to loosen bonds.

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