Mt. Ellinor

Quick report

Collapsing

isolated

Road was relatively clear till about 600ft before of upper Ellinor TH. Trail was just covered in a dusting up till the bottom of the winter chute ~4400ft. Booted up the chute on a firm crust to about 5200ft where we noticed isolated collapsing in the crust. Hand pits showed that the 1-2inch crust was resting on loose grains. At the top of the chute snow surface became soft quickly and wind drifts depth ranged from trace to 6 inches of soft consolidated snow. At approximately 5650ft on a ESE facing slope I noted more collapsing and this time the hand pit showed a consolidated 4-6inch slap on a smooth firm surface. When isolated the slab required a firm push from above to release. From there we headed back down the chute noting no more signs on the descent. We did not note and signs of natural avalanches, nor did we trigger any slides.