Good enough refreeze at Angora

After a successful late afternoon corn harvest on Luther Pass yesterday, we were a little lazy with timing and pace today on Seneca Chutes, and the overnight refreeze wasn't quite as forgiving as the prior night's. Snow surface near North Upper Truckee was already beginning to soften in the morning, but the thick crust below it was supportable to both ski and foot travel. Climbing up the low elevation E aspect through the burn zone to gain the ridge was already becoming soft enough for good descending, indicating we might be a little late for our objective. However, boot pen up Seneca Chutes after noon was still reasonable (pic 1). Cloud cover and moderate W winds may have been keeping the snow surface just cool enough. When nearing the top of our boot pack, a party above us triggered a very small wet loose by skiing near a large rock. It was big enough that we moved to the side to avoid getting caught, but it was barely big enough to knock someone off their feet. Similarly, numerous turns on the way down at 2pm triggered small wet loose slides, but nothing big enough to be harmful. While descending the lower pitch through the burn zone, ski pen broke through the crust during turns, but the crust was just barely supportable when going straight. Thankfully, this was no longer avalanche terrain, as conditions could have promoted larger wet loose slides here.

Pic 2: A human triggered wet loose likely 24-48 hours old. Tracks cut across the top then go down next to the tree. 

Pic 3: An interesting double terrain trap. This slide likely occured 48 hours ago. No tracks visible. Note the two shallow crowns upper center and top right. Where the debris piled up on the lower bench it appears deep enough to fully bury a person.

Pic 3: The main Seneca Chute had already slid, which made us feel a little better about pushing the timing in that same path today. This debris looks to be at least 48 hours old, and would be size D1.5.

Several glide cracks beginning to show near the granite slabs in this area. Large cornices were also looming.