Powderhouse Peak

Wind and storm slab conditions were widely observed at Powderhouse today. Cracking around skis while skinning was common on the upper half of the mountain especially closer to ridges and the summit. Storm slab instabilities were observed in the trees away from ridges, likely resulting from temperature spikes during the storm. Skiers and snowboarders commented that the snow rode a bit upside down, with heavier and denser snow on the surface. 

A rider triggered a small slab on a steeper rollover mid-mountain and away from ridges or the peak. This was small and inconsequential in this location but  clearly an indicator that instabilities exist within the new snow and consequences could be higher on steeper and more wind affected terrain. At the crown's highest point it was about 6 inches tall. 

Photo 1: Small storm slab in the trees at Powderhouse. Slab ran the length of the steeper rollover (approximately 30 feet). 

Photo 2: Flank area of storm slab showing the slab properties of the surface snow. The heavier snow closer to the surface was only marginally more cohesive than the lighter snow below but that was enough. This cracking was relatively far (approximate 20 feet) from the steepest section of the rollover, and from the original trigger point, and from the path of the rider.

Photo 3: One of the largest tree bombs I've observed. This fell on the edge of the skin track between laps. The skin track is also visible in the photo and shows that it was largely covered by falling and blowing snow since the last skinner passed through this area (estimated at less than an hour).

Photo 4: The main block of snow that fell off the tree w/ the pole for scale. Especially interesting is the blast radius around the block of snow. A smaller (but still heavy enough to cause damage block) sat directly on the skin track.