Whumpfing and cracking on Credit Card Bowl

Location Name: 
Credit Card
Region: 
Mount Rose Area
Date and time of observation: 
Wed, 02/24/2010 - 09:18
Location Map: 
United States
39° 19' 15.2472" N, 119° 52' 1.9488" W
See map: Google Maps
US


Red Flags: 
Whumphing noises, shooting cracks, or collapsing
Observation made by: Public
Snowpit Observations
More detailed information about the snowpack: 

We experienced some sketchy avalanche conditions in a couple of places. There is about 6 to 12 inches of new wet snow on top of a crust, which seems to be on top of a loose layer, though there doesn’t appear to be much more than 3 feet total in that particular area. There was some slab sliding of that top layer as we hiked back up. The slab we saw was only about the size of a card table and didn’t slide more than 6 inches. It was about 9 inches thick.

Then right at the top there was a lot of whumping and cracking as we traversed. This was within 5 meters of the road.

Cracks didn’t propagate more than a ski length and there was only settling, no sliding. Still, it was sketchy since we were above a wide open area with trees below…

Observations from between 8100' and 7000'.

Any other comments about the observation or links to outside pages that have more info on the observation: 

Sorry for the non-specific nature of these observations and lack of photos. The activity was under foot so we didn't want to linger...

More infomation about this observation can be found here - http://www.teambaconstrip.com/2010/02/24/2221-feet-before-work/

 

Weather Observations
Blowing Snow: 
No
Air temperature: 
Above Freezing
Wind Speed: 
Light
Precipitation: 
Snow
Air temperature trend: 
Warming
Wind Direction: 
Accumulation rate: 
Less than 1 in. per hour
More detailed information about the weather: