Avalanche Conditions

1 photos

Cayoosh North

Cayoosh Summit & N Glacier

Avalanche Conditions

Climbed up the North Glacier of Cayoosh today to the summit in great conditions. 5-10cms of new snow brings the storm snow to 20-25cms over the Jan 13th crust. This crust exists to 1850-1900m. At 1900 to 2050m on South to East aspects we found a buried 20cm 1F layer overlying 4F facets above a buried crust, which felt hollow and gave easy shears. Once on the North glacier, a test pit at 2200m showed a well consolidated snowpack. The Dec 26th crust is down 110cm. In this location it had 1cm of 1mm facets above it but we had no significant results on an ECT. HS was 250cm on average on the glacier with up to 320cm up high. The Dec 26th crust was hard to feel above 2300m when probing, and seems like less of a concern in the high Alpine.

There was evidence of widespread previous wind effect in the Alpine, with a size 2 natural windslab in the previous 24-36 hours out of steep rocky lee terrain. However the cold temps had tightened everything thing up and remaining windslab was isolated and stubborn. There was also evidence of a loose wet cycle to size 2 during the Jan 12th warming event, and recent loose dry to size 1.5 out of steep solar terrain. We did not see anything step down into deeper layers.

We avoided steep, rocky and shallow areas, especially those connected to larger slopes. The snowpack still feels highly variable and there is still a lot of uncertainty and lack of trust in the deeper layers. Although things may be improving, it's still not the time to step out into bigger features of consequence. Below 1600m is still marginal early season coverage, and needs another 50+ cms to really feel skiable.

On The Map

These observations and opinions are those of the person who submitted them. The ACMG and its members take no responsibility for errors, omissions, or lapses in continuity. Conditions differ greatly over time and space due to the variable nature of mountain weather and terrain. Application of this information provides no guarantee of increased safety. Do not use the Mountain Conditions Report as the sole factor in planning trips or making decisions in the field.