Observations – February 3, 2013

Went for a look-see of the northern advisory zones via Arctic Valley and Gordon Lyon.  We were pleasantly surprised.  Gordon Lyon’s north bowls are sporting many ski-able chutes and gullies.  We found dense, smooth, and fast snow in the more deeply filled gullies.  The more open slopes, that actually had enough snow to be skied, were sporting thick and supportable windboard underlain by facets.  These shallower areas of windslab on top of facets is what I’m most concerned about.  While exhibiting no immediate red flags of instability, they’re more suspect than the deeply loaded gullies that have a much more consolidated snowpack.

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Although the vis wasn’t great, looking down the South Fork valley areas such as Lynx, 3 Bowls, and North Bowl appear to be getting filled in and almost ripe for decent turns.

No recent avalanche activity or red flags noted in the Arctic Valley area.