Whumpfing and unstable test results near Ginny Lake.

We toured low angle terrain in the Ginny Lake drainage today, having ruled out travel on any slopes that held the Dec 11 facet layer and were over 30 degrees in slope angle before leaving home. Breaking trail into areas untraveled by others we triggered numerous whumpfs, about 15 during our tour. Snowpit test results indicate ongoing instability on the Dec 11 facet layer. All signs indicated that avalanches could easily occur in this area. Enjoyable travel on sub 30 degree slopes, but still plenty of rocks to hit.

Photo 1: Signs of E wind scouring from last night were aparent with small new cornices built onto SW-W aspects and sastrugi or scouring to bare ground in some areas on NE aspects.

Photo 2: Snow surface warming allowing for tiny roller balls mid morning on a SE aspect at 9,500'.

Photo 3: New cornices were easy to collapse with a single kick.