Steamboat & Flat Tops

Avalanche

Jacob Mandell · Apr 15, 2018 · Steamboat & Flat Tops

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Weather

Partly cloudy with light SW winds, temps in the upper 20's with sun breaks bringing considerable warmth.

Snowpack

4-8 inches of light snow on a firm crust. Snow varied on ridge with wind loaded slopes on the SW aspects. NNW aspect skied poorly with 4 inches of poorly bonded snow on a hard crust. The sun came out momentarily and the snow immediately started to get wet. My partner ski cut a slope of 40+ degrees and was able to get a significant sluff to move.

Avalanche

We saw signs of large avalanches on NNW slopes from the previous warm up at about 9k. Avy debris and runnels were obvious.