Climbing rangers patrolled up to Camp Muir this morning to check out the conditions of the mountain and observe the snowpack as the temperatures begin to heat up. A reported 40cms of new snow at 6000ft fell during 05/04-05/06, though totals are much deeper at higher elevations. Doors to the shelters at Muir had to be excavated to access the buildings today. Sustained moderate E winds with strong gusts kept the snowpack firmer than expected on the way up, though was not enough to keep the heat off the snow all day. Ski quality was grabby to say the least...
Numerous wet avalanches were observed both in motion, or just after occurrence around 2pm today, mainly on E to S aspects. Numerous D1 Wet Loose were observed on all aspects.
The first notable crown observed was a D2.5 wet slab seen in a S facing bowl, 7000ft elevation around 8am.
At the same time, an estimated D1.5 crown was observed in Gib Chute, on a SE facing panel.
The next was a D1.5 wet slab observed on an E facing ridge above the Nisqually, 7000ft around 9:30am.
We estimate these three ran sometime in the last 12 hours from observation.
On the descent, a D2 wet loose was observed in motion on Denman Peak, 5500ft E, 2:18pm.
A D2.5 Glide avalanche occurred off the NW shoulder of Pinnacle Peak and was observed slightly after the wet loose on Denman.
Around 3pm, multiple new D2 pockets of Wind Slab were observed on the ridge above the Kautz, ~13000ft, SW.
