Observation Date: 01/21/2012

Route/Location:
Lockwood

Weather:
Mostly Cloudy with intermittent snow showers, at times very heavy but brief.
Temps were above freezing to at least 6000′. Wind gusts 20+ mph.

Wind:
Not a lot of wind but brief periods of very gusty conditions, perhaps reaching 30mph. Wind came from both the east and west but this was on a ridge well below the summit of Lockwood.

New Snow: 12+”

Snow DensityThe mass of snow per unit volume, but often expressed as a percent water content. New fallen powder has a low densityThe mass of snow per unit volume, but often expressed as a percent water content. New fallen powder has a low density (3-10%), while heavy or wet snow is more dense (10-20%). (3-10%), while heavy or wet snow is more dense (10-20%).: High

Avalanche Activity:
We have been skiing on Lockwood all week and its been great, but we’ve been staying on slopes mostly below 30 degrees. Today we were back for the first time since thursday and immediately saw that the steep power line run had released. We skinned over to the road-cut above it and took a look but didn’t get off the road or stand on the hangfire, which wasn’t much. The slideA mass of snow sliding, tumbling, or flowing down an inclined surface. Same as avalanche. probably released naturally yesterday, or some time thursday and we couldn’t see it because of the inclement weather. There was no sign of human activity, though one person did access 1st bowl on a snowmobile on wednesday afternoon. Nonetheless I am relatively certain that it released late Thursday or on Friday.

The crown was ~8″-20″ deep, ~60-70 yards wide, and the avalanche ran perhaps 150 yards.
The fractureThe physical separation of the slabA relatively cohesive snowpack layer. A layer of snow stronger than underlying layers. from the bed surface and surrounding snow during the initiation of a slabA relatively cohesive snowpack layer. A layer of snow stronger than underlying layers. avalanche. line was a very well defined zigzag, and it ran all the way into the trees on skiers left of the power lines.

Its a good thing no one had tried to ski it, it certainly had come up in conversation with ourselves. Let me know if I can provide any more info, wished we could;ve gotten a picture.

Observed Danger Rating:

Other Comments:

Observer: Stephen Hodgdon