5040 Peak
Avalanchetheron.finley · Feb 6, 2022 · West Island
Quick report
- Weather
- sunny, warm
- Ride Type
- convexSlopes, steepSlopes, sunnySlopes, openTrees, alpineSlopes
- Riding Quality
- good
- Snow Conditions
- crusty
- Avalanche Conditions
- avalancheConditionTemp
Freezing temperature on Friday was higher than predicted, and it poured rain up to the summit of 5040 on Friday night, rather than snow. On Saturday and Sunday there was a solid icy crust, that softened up by the afternoon.
Snowpack
- Obs Type
- point
- Site Aspect
- NE
- Test Fracture
- resistant
- Site Elevation
- 1400
- Ski Penetration
- 0
- Test Initiation
- hard
- Foot Penetration
- 5
- Test Failure Depth
- 60
- Site Elevation Band
- alp
- Surface Conditions
- crust
- Test Failure Layer Crystal Types
- crust
Dug an extended column on NE aspect on 5040 peak col at 1450m. Observed three rain crusts at 5cm (Friday's precip.), 60cm (from late January melt), and 100cm. Could not produce any failures even with full arm taps. Prying with a shovel produced a planar resistant failure on the 60cm crust. Thus, we felt comfortable skiing steep alpine slopes. Slight temperature rise through the day loosened the surface layer, but not enough for loose wet slides to become a problem.
Avalanche
- Slab Width
- 100
- Trigger Type
- natural
- Avalanche Size
- 1
- Slab Thickness
- 15
- Start Zone Aspect
- N
- Avalanche Character
- looseWet
- Number Of Avalanches
- 2-5
- Avalanche Observation
- 12hrsAgo
- Start Zone Elevation Band
- alp, tln
- Avalanche Occurrence Datetime
- 2022-02-05T16:00:00
Cycle of loose wet avalanches occurred on Friday down to Cobalt Lake as a result of significant rain loading the snowpack