Ashman Obs
AvalancheBryan Mitchell · Jan 20, 2020 · Microwave-Sinclair
Quick report
- Weather
- sunny, cold
- Ride Type
- alpineSlopes
- Riding Quality
- good
- Snow Conditions
- powder, crusty
Spent three days skiing around the Ashman area. 18th: We had stunning calm, clear days on the 18th, with strong solar radiation creating a solar crust on most steeping SE, S, SW aspects. observed a series of windslab, or cornice triggered natural avalanches on NE slopes in alpine (see photo). Skied N, NW aspects, and investigating the windslabs on NE aspects. We found good bonding, and despite significant effort could not get them to budge. No results on N, NE aspects with hand shears, and Extended Column tests in top 120cm >300 cm of snow at tree line and above 230 cm of snow @ 1250m in trees 175 cm of snow @1100m This warm, sunny weather, and a calm cool night resulted in widespread surface hoar growth (up to 1cm) in meadows below tree line and at the bottom of the basins. 19th: Significant surface hoar on all aspects, and at all elevations. Clear, calm morning, with great skiing on NE aspects. wind picked up at 12:30pm for about 2 hours, bringing light - moderate snow transport at ridge top, and topping the surface hoar in open areas. Meadows below tree line have likely preserved this Surface hoard layer. Continued solar crust development on S aspects observed on ski out. 20th: Cool, and varied visibility, with 2-4 cm overnight. Skied steep N tree lines, NE alpine lines until the wind picked up significantly at about 11:00am. winds were light-moderate, with strong gusts occurring frequently from the S and SW.
Avalanche
- Avalanche Size
- 2
- Number Of Avalanches
- 2-5
- Avalanche Observation
- moreThan48hrsAgo
- Avalanche Occurrence Datetime
- 2020-02-14T12:00:00
NE aspect, cornice or wind slab avalanches. likely the ones that were posted in a MIN report from last week.