Public Observation

Observation Details

Observations

Toured out to the Blue Crag zone to get eyes on various lines on the Mammoth Crest and hopefully ski Blue Couloir. Not surprisingly, coverage is excellent, with all the standard chutes and couloirs nice and fat as well as top to bottom coverage in lines such as Crag Couloir, Hammil Chute, and multiple chutes on the east face of Hammil crag. However, large cornices have developed at the tops of many NE-facing lines, including Hammil Bowl and Ship's Prow.

Winds were stronger than forecast, so I skipped Blue Couloir and instead lapped the terrain around Creag an Turic, sampling a variety of aspects. With the exception of a short, crusty shot down a SW col, every aspect I skied had fun, surfy windblown powder. NTL NE-E aspects near ridgetops developed a thin, reactive wind slab throughout the day, though it failed to propagate more than a couple feet from skis. Surface winds were steady throughout the day and fully filled in skin tracks in exposed areas in <30 minutes.

Observed Avalanches

Signs of Unstable Snow