Public Observation

Observation Details

Observations

We skied the North aspect of White Wing. When we left the car around 7 am, temps were already in the upper 30s and it was overcast. We found frozen crust on much of our approach, but there were a few spots that were already very soft around 8 or 9. We heard some rock fall off of obsidian dome but we had stayed above the gully. The creek is definitely melting out and there are a few places that have rushing water, but it's still buried in snow further up the canyon.

The north aspect of White wing had partially frozen crust and made for good climbing conditions around 10 am. I used ski crampons but my partner did not and made it up. The top of white wing was getting a lot of wind and the snow had a hard crust, but was not icy.

On the way down, the snow on the North aspect was soft although sometimes lumpy (maybe from wind?). I did not see any rollerballs, other than a few we triggered on the way back, or loose wet avalanches. When we were returning to the car, the snow was mostly mashed potatoes and it was very warm and slow going. My boot was penetrating the snow all the way up around 11:30/12.

Signs of Unstable Snow