Adirondack CommunityAvalanche Project

Observation Details

while walking up the middle slide of the angel slides we observed some isolated settling and cracking in certain pockets of wind loaded snow. There was a distinct crust layer below the fresh snow from 12/10-12/11 storm. Fresh snow was roughly 25cm deep in the upper (3,500') and lower (3,250') test pits. The lower pit showed roughly 20-30cm of wet slush sitting on the unfrozen ground below the fresh snow while the upper test pit had closer to 60cm of slush with a distinct crust layer between the slush and new snow on top. Lots of flowing water was observed in the areas with really shallow snow cover. No cracking or sluffing was observed while riding the slide but in areas with thinner snow there was no bonding to ground below and hard carves would push the fresh snow and old slush layer off the grass and vegetation. Unanimously it was decided that things felt safe to ride and two hard ski cuts were made at the top prior to riding. Snow felt supportive and allowed for great riding with no contact with rocks or ledge due to the crust and slush layer