Storm flop at Marion Lake

The forecasted snowfall did not pan out at Marion Lake and sluffing in very steep terrain was our only concern observed.

• 1” of new snow, very light snowfall rates, and light north winds, under a cooling trend
• On slopes steeper than 40 degrees, we easily triggered sluffs in the top 4” to 10” of snow. In longer running terrain starting at upper elevations, these were large enough to injure or bury someone.
• Frequent, small cracking 3-4” inches deep on a layer of weak facets above the Groundhog Crust. Not enough to form a storm slab yet, but an indicator that this layer will be reactive with more slab.