February 2

Yellow Jacket, Alexander Basin, Wilson

Elevations, slope angles and aspects

6300-9700', angles over 35°, north, east and west facing aspects.

Snow conditions

1-3" new snow over settled spongy base.

New snow provided a bit more cream to the end of January storm snow.

It also concealed some of the debris from the slide cycles. Watch the clinkers!

Little change in conditions. No cracking, no collapsing. No recently formed cornices or drifting.

Weather

Overcast to foggy skies, moderate temperatures. Wind was from the ene with occasional gusts to around 15 mph along the ridges.

Snow pit

wilson-glade-snow-profile

Avalanche activity

I wanted a better look at the Wilson Glade slide spotted on January 24th.

Slide ran from the top, standard corner pocket, descending through the trees, continuing to the upper flat.

North facing portion of the glade. Did not include northeast facing nor did it propagate across the rest of the glade.

Running late in the storm, debris was only covered by the few inches of recent snow

Evaluation

Mostly stable snow in the area.

Route finding continues to be a critical factor.

Snow pit testing suggests a very gradual healing of old faceted snow layering.

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