Castle / Andesite

Toured in the Castle Peak/Andesite area today. Cloudy skies and surprisingly moderate winds most of the day, even as the new storm rolled in early afternoon.

The snow in most sheltered areas was light and right-side-up. The snow was slabbier within ~100 feet of leeward ridgelines (N/NE/E) and we saw some minor cracking when breaking trail.

We came across a small natural wind slab avalanche (pictured) on a wind-loaded north aspect just below the west ridge of Castle Peak at 8,300ft. The crown was about 18" deep but the avalanche didn't propogate or run because the surrounding terrain was all low-angle. It appeared to have broken fairly recently based on the fact that it hadn't filled in at all with new falling/blowing snow.

Thank you to the Sierra Avalanche Center forecasters and observers for all your hard work! If you read and rely on the forecast, please donate today at www.sierraavalanchecenter.org/donate