Deep Creek Observations

The low sun angles and relatively weak incoming solar radiation of today being just a few weeks past solstice combined with a weather forecast of cooler air temperatures with increasing E winds, we identified terrain close to due S in aspect, wind protected, and below 8,000' as the go to for today. Scouring the maps we set out sights on some S aspect terrain in Deep Creek that fit the bill and headed out.

Skinning the mostly shaded road on the valley floor, conditions had changed only minimally since I was last on this road 5 days prior. Dust on crust lingered in shaded areas. In a few spots the supportable rain crust had become weaker and there was a little bit more faceted snow beneath the crust.

As we began to ascend S aspect terrain during the late morning hours, the snow surface was beginning to melt. I stopped a few times to step off of one of my skis and assess boot supportability which remained supportable throughout our ascent. E winds increased in speed during the late morning hours and were strong on the ridgetops by 1 pm.

Descending open SSE and S aspect slopes between 7,000' and 8,000' in the noon to 1 pm time frame gave us ski supportable conditions with 2 to 3 inches of surface wet snow immediately off of the ridgetops. We kicked off only a couple of isolated pinwheels that grew to one foot in diameter before breaking apart. A few ski cuts gave no indication of sufficient wet snow formation for us to trigger any wet loose avalanches. No other signs of instability observed.