Diamond Head area
Avalanchedavidphillipschwartz · Feb 3, 2020 · Garibaldi
Quick report
- Weather
- cold, sunny
- Ride Type
- openTrees, alpineSlopes, mellowSlopes
- Riding Quality
- ok
- Snow Conditions
- crusty, powder
Toured up to Diamond Head from Elfin Lakes and back. 10-15cm of loose new snow over a hard rain crust (aka pow-crust) skiied decently well, although rain-sculpted features were widespread and made for the occasional bouncy traverse.
Snowpack
- Obs Type
- summary
- Ski Penetration
- 10
- Foot Penetration
- 30
- Site Elevation Band
- tln, btl, alp
- Surface Conditions
- newSnow
The rain crust from the recent storm appeared everywhere throughout the Diamond Head region, from Elfin Lakes at 1450m up to the summit of Diamond Head at 2000m. This crust was covered by 10-15cm of loose dry snow, except at the summit of Diamond Head (S aspect) and in the Gargoyle - Columnar col, where the new snow was thinner but did not seem wind affected.
Avalanche
- Trigger Type
- natural
- Avalanche Size
- 2.5
- Start Zone Aspect
- N, SE, S, E
- Number Of Avalanches
- 6-10
- Start Zone Elevation
- 1700
- Runout Zone Elevation
- 1550
- Avalanche Observation
- moreThan48hrsAgo
- Start Zone Elevation Band
- alp, tln
- Avalanche Occurrence Datetime
- 2020-01-31T12:00:00
Saw evidence of many natural avalanches ranging from small point releases to large (size 2-3?) slab releases on steep E, SE, and S aspects in the Columnar-Gargoyle bowl. Also saw evidence of a large natural avalanche on the N side of the Gargoyles. The listed avalanche date & time is a total guess, based on an assumption that the activity occurred during the recent storm. Some point releases were clearly newer than the larger slab avalanches.