Detailed Observation
Date | 2019-04-20 |
Location | Eastern Alaska Range |
Observer | David Hickle |
Avalanche | N |
General Observations
Hi all – skiied 10-15 miles south of Cantwell today, there has been quite a bit of temps above freezing which resulted in a layer of ice ~ 6" under the latest snow throughout. This crust would support 220 lbs standing in ski boots and we couldn't penetrate it with a ski pole. Observed three small natural avalanches (storm slab?) around 4000' on a NW facing slope. Other than that, no red flags…we dug a pit around 2600' on a NW facing slope and observed multiple slabs down to 4' beneath the surface with an icy layer 6" down followed by 2-3 weak layers at 12", 18" and 3'. The slabs were all pencil hardness, weak layers 4 finger. 2x CT tests, which failed at CT17 and CT15 respectively and ECT-N. Skiied a NW facing slope from 3600' down to 2000' which had 1.5' of powder, no reaction to the skiing.