Public Observation
Observation Details
Observation Date:
February 15, 2021Submitted:
February 16, 2021Zone or Region:
Taos AreaActivity:
Skiing/SnowboardingLocation:
Lake Fork Peak Basin above Williams LakeObserved Avalanches
Did you observe any avalanches?
YesAvalanche Type:
Soft SlabSize:
Size 1: Relatively harmless to peopleElevation:
12200Aspect:
SEComments:
Multiple smaller soft slab avalanches around the Lake Fork Peak Basin from Feb 13-14 storm. They appear to be natural slides. They didn't run far or deep, maybe a couple hundred feet down from near the ridge line.Signs of Unstable Snow
Observations
Mostly cloudy, 10-15 deg F. 3:15pm.
Snow pit at 11300 ft on East aspect on a roller above Williams Lake to the West. Slope angle 31-33 degrees. HS 175cm.
Observed new snow F hard in top 30cm, followed by a 5mm pencil hard crust. 2-3cm layer of facets underneath crust. A quite cohesive 1m-thick slab from faceted layer at about 35 cm to snow depth of about 130cm. Bottom 40 cm were facets.
CT4(PC) around 29cm. This was top layer of fist hard powder. Weight of skier was enough to penetrate through most of this layer.
CT15(RP) around 32cm. This was on the shallow buried facets. Stubborn, but eventually fractured on a semi-uniform plane. Q2.
ECTX. This was exciting and provided most of the reason for a green light to ski the 30-34 degree rollers higher above Williams Lake.
Media
