AVALANCHE ACTIVITY:
12,000 people are stranded in the Akari Valley after 46 avalanches, story in article section. Net Pic
Locally, a few pockets of soft slab Sz1 and a few point releases. No other avalanches observed.
YESTERDAY:
Overcast Monday morning, February 27, 2017.
Clouds were thin in the morning.
Dusting on the deck.
Monday morning.
Unsettled by the afternoon.
Warmed up in the afternoon. High of -9 at 1860 meters at 13:30 Hrs.
Later in the afternoon.
Even some clear breaks.
Sunset was at 17:50 Hrs.
Weather Observations for February 28, 2017: taken at 06:00 Hours.
2240 meters -16, Winds were 15-25 KPH S --Horstman Hut
2180 meters -15, Winds were 25-30 KPH SSW--Whistler Peak
1860 meters -15, Winds were 10-15 KPH SE --Rendevous
1835 meters -14, Winds were 5-10 KPH SW --Roundhouse
1650 meters -15, 0 cm of new snow, trace in 24 hrs, 248 cm Base, RH 87% --Pig Alley
1550 meters -14, trace of new snow, trace in 24 hrs, 175 cm Base, RH 90% --Catskinner
660 meters -12, Valley Temp, Max Temp Yesterday was +0.3, 0.0 mm of Precip recorded yest
As of 07:00 Hrs this am we have scattered cloud and unlimited visibility.
FORECAST:
A weak ridge of high pressure will bring unsettled conditions this morning in a Northwesterly flow. Clouds will build by the afternoon with light snowfall and a slightly rising FL (800m) by this evening, winds willpick up to 80 KPH as the weak front arrives. As of now it looks unsettled Wednesday morning with another weak front moving onshore for the afternoon in a Westerly flow. The FL will fluctuate between 600-800 meters on Wednesday with light snofall into Thursday. A more vigorous frontal band arrives for Thursday with moderaate to heavy snowfall with the FL peaking at 1200 meters. A cooler weak front pushes through Friday with light snowfall and a FL dropping to the surfsace. More frontal bands on the way into the weekend. Guesstimates: 5-10 cm by Wednesday morning, 6-8 cm by Thursday morning, 30-40 cm by Friday morning, 10-15 cm by Saturday morning.
Scatterd cloud this am, increasing by this afternoon.
Cloudier as the day progress today.
Cloudier later in the day Wednesday.
Flow Tuesday into Wednesday.
Very weak front for Wednesday.
Thursday into Friday.
Friday into Saturday. Deep upper level low.
Sunday
OBSERVATIONS & INFORMATION:
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I spent the last four days guiding day tours from a fly in camp situated near the most west White Lake (1770m) in the head waters of Spetch Creek by the North Glacier of Saxifrage Mt. We skied in the Place Glacier area, towards North Joffre Creek and off Saxifrage.
Generally the ski quality was very good but the warm temps from 10 days ago had glazed even the highest ridges with ice. This made crossing cols very slick or crunchy . Below 1900m the crust was still prominent under skis.
North aspects have obvious faceted snow now buried by the more recent storm snows. We saw the results of a sz 3+ cornice release that triggered multiple slabs up to 1.5m deep on what looked like the faceted layer.
Yesterdays strong NE winds loaded all lee aspects and caused natural avalanches to Sz 2 in the alpine and at tree line elevations. None of these slides stepped down to the lower faceted layers.
We had a very wintery trip with air temps never warmer than -10. Short flight. Great touring area :)
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PSA: be prepared for vehicle break-ins at the Rubble Creek trailhead.
Our party knew that there had been a few break-ins reported, and left 2 empty vehicles for the Neve shuttle overnight on Sunday. Both cars had smashed windows when we returned on Monday.
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Still some fresh turns to be had!!
It has been a very cold February.
Soft slabs in steep terrain. Permenatly closed area!!
Would not want to mess that up!!
Getting serious on the Horstman Glacier.
Snow makers are still busy!!
ARTICLES:
46 avalanches in Akari Valley in Chitral, 12,000 people are stranded:
Afghanistan
Deep Snow and Avalanche Concerns around Bridger Bowl:
Bozeman, MT
Goat triggers wind slab avalanche:
Idaho
Italy avalanche victims survived by eating snow:
Rigapiano Hotel
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