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Eastern Sierra Avalanche Center

Public Observation

Observation Details

Observation Date:
January 18, 2023
Submitted:
January 18, 2023
Zone or Region:
Convict Creek
Activity:
Skiing/Snowboarding
Location:
Convict Lake - Mono Jim and McGee

Observations

Skied McGee and Mono Jim today, and found fun skiing and very cold temps. Saw -3 degrees F at the car when we started at ~0900 (-6 was the coldest on the drive up) and despite intense sun it stayed very cold all day. In the sun we felt quite hot, but we saw very limited rollerball action on a south facing slope and a single sluff on an east face off the rocks to the right of Mendenhall. Winds were light, picking up throughout the day and I saw very limited blowing snow. There were patchy windslabs and skiing was grabby in places, but was very enjoyable overall. We skied the coulior through the rocks by the airport chutes, and coverage was thin for the first half. Both my partner and I tagged a few rocks. Mono Jim had excellent coverage and high quality powder.

With such cold weather, my partner and I are concerned about faceting in north facing sheltered terrain. If facets form in north facing steeps and then more storms come through in February we are concerned that tricky instability issues in steep north facing terrain could arise.

On the way up old man's bowl in the afternoon, downslope winds were filling the skinner in. We didn't see any cracking, avalanches (in the convict drainage), or other signs of instability. A small plate broke on one turn on Mono Jim with a clean fracture; however, the plate was very resistant. We triggered a few small sluffs in steep terrain. A party of 5 also triggered some limited sluffs in the Mono Jim's north face and skied safely (good job guys!).

Observed Avalanches

Did you observe any avalanches? 
Yes
Avalanche Type:
Soft Slab
Size:
Size 3: Could bury and destroy a car, damage a truck, destroy a wood frame house, or break a few trees
Elevation:
~8000'
Aspect:
E
Comments:
Saw this interesting avalanche path on the north end of wheeler crest. Not sure what time or kind of slab it was, but it ran out of the rocks, into the gully, and up the other side of the gully like a halfpipe.

Media

Signs of Unstable Snow

None reported

Media

Blowing snow and evidence of significant wind effect at high elevations. This is The Bumpkin on top of wheeler crest ~12k' taken from the grade.
With such cold weather, the snow in these surprisingly sheltered north facing trees at ~9800' on McGee is starting to dry out. It was very light, unsupportable, and seemed to be on its way towards faceting.
Despite intense sun today, this was the only thing I noticed that shed off the east facing cliffs on Laurel. This is to the lookers right of Mendenhall at ~9200'. Small loose avalanche.
Very limited rollerball action on the south facing slope above Convict.
The plate triggered from my partner's ski turn. The plate that released is undercut from where I skied. While it looked to be a planar break, it was very resistant. This was on Mono Jim's east face gully around 10k'. We saw no other cracking.
There was little to no blowing snow on the ridgetops, but downslope winds in old man's bowl were filling in the skin track and creating grabby slabs. This was 2-3 hours after the last party, and this level of snow refill was pretty average. The snow in the bowl was quite crusty and looked like it would have been a grabby and not fun ski on light weight 95s. However, I bet the snowboarders enjoyed it:)
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