Snow and Avy Pics

Snow and Avalanche Photos

Seldom Seen Bowl area 4/17 E face

Lower Marmot slabs 4/17

Stairway slab 4/16

Upper Eldorado slabs 4/15

Eldorado Slabs 4/15

Gov’t Pk East 4/13

: #2 slab Lower Eldorado triggered on uptrack

#3 slab on Lower Eldorado remote trigger 4/11

E face Hatch slab avalanche 4/11

SE slabs Marmot 4/11

Slab avalanches south face Eldorado 4/10

Wet-loose avalanches 4/4

Surface Hoar

SW Storm-slab avalanche and W/NW loose-dry avalanche 3/27

Storm-slab avalanche on old sun crust 3/26

Cornices 3/27

3/23/2013 Shooting Cracks

Human triggered loose snow sluffs Feb 25 2013

Cornice debris Feb 25, 2013

sensitive surface slabs Feb 25, 2013

Pinnacle Shoulder SS-ASu-R1D1-O

JAN 27, 2013
Shooting cracks and reactive small, thin and soft wind slabs are in many locations. You can find these on many leeward side ridge features and in catchment zones like this couloir. These types of smaller, thin hazards are well managed by ski cutting. While traveling on the snow you can identify the slabs by a change in the snow stiffness under foot. If you are on steep enough terrain (35+ degrees) you may be able to get the slab to move. If you are unfortunate enough to get swept off your feet you could get carried or pushed over a cliff, into rocks, or just somewhere you didn’t anticipate. While currently not a major threat, if we see a spike in wind speeds or a significant dump of new snow, expect these slabs to be bigger and more threatening, and just as reactive.

Slab Avalanche on Standard West Face Run triggered by very heavy wet snow, Marmot. HS-N-R2D2-I. Did not run on the depth hoar, but on a hardness inversion within the mid-pack.

Toilette Bowl, Eldorado. Slab Avalanche

Martin Mine Gully, Eldorado. Photo Jan 18, 2013. Another slab avalanche.

Another wet slide near Presidents. Photo: Anthony Larson

Rain runnels and dry slab avalanches on the standard west face run on Marmot. Jan 15, 2013 Photo: Anthony Larson

Skyscraper, dry slab. HS-N-R2D2-I

Marmot high west face coulior. Various wet slides.

Rain runnels roadside under SE face Marmot. Runnels were observed up to around 3000′

DEC 20, 2012 This very sensitive wind slab was up to 1 foot thick, North, 4700′ on Ray Wallace. It triggered a small pocket down slope (a few inches thick) that ran about half the distance of the run, ~400 ft. Winds were not strong enough yet to build thick mid-slope slabs.