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Observation: Douglas Island

Location: Upper East

Date:
Observer:
Marissa Capito
Route & General Observations

Skinned up to the top of Black Bear intending to dig a pit nearby, and noticed a large crown running the length of High East. Chose a pit location of a similar aspect to that slide above East Chutes. See below for photos of crown and runout zone.

Red Flags
Red flags are simple visual clues that are a sign of potential avalanche danger. Please record any sign of red flags below.
Obvious signs of instability
Recent Avalanches?Yes
Collapsing (Whumphing)?Yes
Cracking (Shooting cracks)?No
Observer Comments

Large crown that appeared to run the length of High East ridge on the Northwest side. Crown depth looked variable from shallow to deeper in some areas. Debris runout was lengthier than expected. Noticed whoomphing as we skinned towards the pit site.

Weather & Snow Characteristics
Please provide details to help us determine the weather and snowpack during the time this observation took place.
Weather

Snowing lightly, light winds out of the Southeast

Snow surface

Powdery snow dried out from cooler temps.

Snowpack

Most concerning was ECTP20 at 68cm, followed by a PST 45/120 (end) on the same layer. This appeared to be the interface layer from the most recent storm on top of the cold dry snow from the last few weeks. Unknown if the High East crown also went on this layer, as it was variable in depth. Lots of weird, fun layers to look at in the snowpack right now! See Snowpilot pit below (note that slope angle of the pit was probably closer to 40 degrees- my error).

Photos & Video
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High East crown. Visible crown lined in red.  

Dick's Lake-Upper East-09-Dec  

Location