Natural Avalanches and Surface Hoar at Lionhead
We rode up Denny Creek and over toward Watkins Creek, etc. We observed two recent natural avalanches that broke 1-2 feet deep, presumably on a surface hoar layer. There was a couple of inches of snow on each of these slides, so I would place them between three and five days old. The slides were R1-D1.5 in size - 75-100' wide, 1-2' deep, and 100' vertical fall.
We dug a quick pit with a snow height of 120 cm (4 feet) and found one layer of surface hoar buried 5" deep (ECTP2) and 4 Finger + facets near the ground (ECTP26). We were not concerned about natural avalanches today, but they will be a concern with a few inches of new snow or more on any slope on which the surface hoar is present (assume it is everywhere at Lionhead).