Talking Mtn loose snow

Location Name: 
Talking Mountain/Becker Ridge
Region: 
Echo Summit Area
Date and time of observation: 
Sat, 03/25/2017 - 16:00
Location Map: 
United States
38° 49' 38.0316" N, 120° 4' 35.9796" W
See map: Google Maps
US


Red Flags: 
Recent loading by new snow, wind, or rain
Rapid warming
Obvious avalanche path
Observation made by: Public
Snowpit Observations
Snowpack photos: 
Any other comments about the observation or links to outside pages that have more info on the observation: 

Partly cloudy skies and moderate SW winds kept the S side of the ascent ridge from experiencing too much warming. Minimal natural wet activity. 2-3" of wet snow on hard MF crust from 230-4pm. The N side held decent, consolidated, cold snow but loose activity was seen. At 4pm, I did a ski cut above a chute on the west ridge above Talking's main bowl which triggered a roller ball that quickly grew to 24"+ and then caused the whole chute to slide. Approx. 30-40ft wide and ran 200-300ft, dissipating into the open bowl. I continued down the ridge without any other signs of instability.

Weather Observations
Blowing Snow: 
No
Cloud Cover: 
50% of the sky covered by clouds
Air temperature: 
Above Freezing
Wind Speed: 
Moderate
Wind Direction: 
Southwest