Large avalanche from Feb. 3 in Upper Pole Creek

While touring today along the ridgeline between Deep Creek and Pole Creek, I was able to take a distant photo of a large avalanche on a NE-facing slope along the ridgeline between Pole Creek and Chief Creek. One of our other guides saw it from roughly the same spot yesterday (Feb. 3)  around 11am, so it occurred sometime before then. (She was unable to take a decent photo because of poor visibility.) See the dropped pin for the approximate location of this avalanche. 

While we were touring and skiing today in the Deep Creek drainage, we experienced mostly calm conditions, with only the occasional light east wind. All surface texture and drifting appeared to be from the SW winds yesterday, with no evidence of effect from the east winds. We did not see any blowing snow on distant ridgelines. North-facing test slopes were mostly unreactive and drifts did not show any significant cracking when stepping above our skin track.

Surface hoar was widespread in open areas below treeline as well as along the Deep Creek/Pole Creek ridgeline, and snow on the south side of the ridge was getting warm and moist this afternoon. 

While practicing rescue briefly in a meadow down along Deep Creek proper, at 6650’, I measured the snow depth to be about 185cm.