An observer reported two natural avalanches in the northeast facing bowl under the Checkered Demon near Mt Humphrey’s. One avalanche started at 12,700 ft and ran around 800 vertical feet, pulling out smaller crowns on the steep rocky terrain. A second smaller avalanche released from an ESE slope under rocks and pulled all the snow out to bare ground. Thanks to David Enloe for the report and picture. See his post and pictures in the Observation section.
Natural avalanche releases days after the storm are often seen in the snowpack in Colorado where the snow is notoriously weak. The slides reported yesterday are clear warning that high elevation snow is capable of producing avalanches.
Reports from the Mammoth Crest noted small wet point releases on sun baked slopes. Stability tests had no results and the snow structure is similar to the Hammil Bowl area- 2 feet of facets with 12-15’ of dry slab above the facet layer.
