Small sluffs in the Park

Off the clock tour in the Park to soak in the views and good snow.

• ​We saw about a dozen small sluffs run naturally from high elevation terrain on S, SW, and W aspects. These were triggered by solar warming this afternoon, but largely retained a dry loose character.
• The snow surface remained dry on west and north aspects at high elevations. On high south and southwest aspects, It became moist and subsequently refroze into a thin crust after the peak of heating mid afternoon. We didn't travel on easterly aspects.
• Our ski objective was a consequential west facing slope. We were a little too late; around 1:30 pm we started to notice subtle signs of surface warming and tiny sluffs. We turned around. An hour later we watched a D1.5 sluff run down the slope; not enough to bury anyone but enough to push you off a cliff. 
• We skied steep north-facing terrain after that with no signs of instability.