BNSF Avalanche Safety Field Observations

Location Name: Snowslip Mountain/Shed 7 East avalanche path Observation date: Tuesday, December 26, 2017 - 17:30	Is this an Avalanche Observation: No

Observation made by: Public

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Quick Observation

Toured up above Shields Creek on the southeast ridge of Snowslip Mountain to the Shed 7 East weather station at 6300 feet. Dug one snowpit just above the weather station on an east facing slope and conducted a full profile. Descended the same route.

Mostly clear skies with no precipitation and cold air temperatures ranging from 3 to 10 °F at elevations between 4000-6300 feet. Winds were light, blowing mostly from the west and occasionally loading easterly aspects above 6000 feet (photo 1).

Overall the snowpack has settled and stabilized since last week. Unfortunately we’ve found a poor snowpack structure with the layer of faceted snow sitting beneath last week’s storm snow still a concern.
Depths on our snow stakes located on the Canyon floor have decreased by 20-25 cm over the past six days.
During our ski tour we did not observe any obvious signs of instability such as shooting cracks, collapsing, or recent avalanche activity.
Trail-breaking was much easier compared to a week ago with ski penetration only 25-40 cm.
Ski cuts on small test slopes did not produce any notable results.
We dug one snowpit at 6300 feet on a 23 degree slope with an easterly aspect. Total snow depth here was 145 cm. Snow profile and an Extended Column Test revealed improving strength and little to no energy (ECTX) but poor structure (photo 2, snowpit profile).
Of note, the Thanksgiving crust at our pit location was an impressive ice mass almost 40 cm thick. Above this was about 20 cm of facets from the early December high pressure period.
No avalanche activity observed.

Snowpack, Avalanche, Weather Images:

Avalanche Details

Avalanche Details:

Date and Time of Avalanche:

Tuesday, December 26, 2017 - 17:30