Smooth Propagator

Went out on a tour for the FOFAC Mentor/Mentee Program.
 

• Our destination was the Hellroaring Peak vicinity. We traveled to an area north of the main peak to find an undistrubed (less skier traffic) area to dig a snowpit.
• Our objective was to record the snowpack structure and analyze stability of today's avalanche problems. We were most curious about the reactivity of the weak layers associated with the Jan 13 crust.
• We dug a pit on an ESE facing slope at 6326 feet. Total snow depth was 205cm.
• Storm slab was 15cm at this location. Wind effect from the previous few days was minimal (no windslab at mid-elevations)
• Jan 13 crust is 86cm below the surface at this location (3 foot persitent slab above the weak layer).

• Stability Test Results: ECTN5 @ 190cm, ECTN7 @ 190cm, CT11 @190cm. And ECTN24 @ 164cm (subtle density change, layer not noted in pit profile), ECTN25 @164cm, CT15 @ 164cm, AND PST 28/100 (END) @ 119cm.

   

• After today's investigative work, we concluded that the Jan 13 persistent slab problem is still capable of propagating a dangerous slab.
• While doing our pit profile, we were expecting to find a thin layer of weak facets above the crust, and it was honestly very difficult to decern and identify. We did not document on our profile because it was too thin and indistinct for us to be confident in its presence.
• Our PST results were key to our analysis of today's hazard.
• Without that final test, one might think that father time finally slayed the dragon...The dragon looks dead here, but it's just sleeping.
• Not wanting to find out if its a light sleeper, we followed FAC guidelines and chose travel routes that would keep us on slopes less than 30 degrees.