Good visibility in the Park

Took advantage of good visibility to look for recent or older avalanche activity in the Stanton/Vaught area.

• We noted two recent natural D2s that ran off of the NE bowl of Stanton. Unclear whether these were thin wind slabs or shallow sluffs, but they ran a long way entraining a lot of snow. 

• There was evidence of an older, larger avalanche off of the NE face of Vaught that snapped a few small trees (D2.5 or 3). Likely ran last weekend, debris was covered by recent snow and wind.

• Today we observed no obvious signs of instability apart from some very minor cracking 2-4” deep. We tested a number of suspect wind affected slopes with no results. One upper elevation pit gave unreactive results for a 3.5’ hard slab over facets. Given the general stabilizing trend, lack of recent persistent slab activity here, and no signs of surface instability, we felt comfortable stepping out into more aggressive terrain. However, we were proactive about identifying and avoiding areas where slabs thinned, and we regrouped in safe zones that were appropriate for larger avalanche potential.