Peak Condition Update | La Plata Peak

Peak:	La Plata Peak
Route:	Northwest Ridge
Range:	Sawatch
Posted By:	freeinthehills
Date of Info:	5/7/2016
Date Posted:	5/8/2016

Details
Snowboarded the N. Face of La Plata Peak Yesterday, Saturday May 7th. Started at 4:30 - Despite the forecast, snow froze well. Keep boards on pack until after the bridge. there are large sections of vehicle tracks as well as various "trenches" and patches of dirt. not the on and off skin/walk game. I skinned most of the way up to the toe of the NW ridge. There is a firm trail that I would pick up from time to time. this is walkable without flotation if your judgment is good. I assume it enters La Plata Gulch. I encountered foot steps up the 150 feet of steep snow to the ridge itself. Snowboard or ski crampons would minimize your transitions between walking and skinning on the ridge. Snowpack was firmly frozen above 11,000 feet and thawed around 11am below 11.4. everything else sported a stout crust mostly unbreakable on my board. Trench warfare below 11.4 to the trail. All aspects seem to have undergone some capacity of MF metamorphosis. Western aspects in the alpine feature a 10cm crust on less consolidated snow. S. Aspects are very locked up as are east aspects. Pit data on exposed N. aspects gives 5-10cm of MF crust, ontop 10cm P on 2-3 cm of 4F snow ontop of 30 cm 1F + to P snow. which also sits on a thin MF Crust. I rode an unconventional line on the N. Face of La Plata. the top 400-600 feet were 20 cm of wind consolidated powder, but only in very protected areas. Below that, thin MF crusts have been developing. even on the due N. aspects with preserved old storm snow. The remainder of the snow has been slid out due to warming and loose avalanche cycles. - No evidence of slabs were found. The report from Sayers from two days ago isn't great. Avalanche Hazard for them seemed to be due to warming and can be managed with timing (hot as balls on the 5th). This opinion comes from examining the debris on Sayers and from riding an identical aspect on La Plata.

Details

Snowboarded the N. Face of La Plata Peak Yesterday, Saturday May 7th.

Started at 4:30 - Despite the forecast, snow froze well.

Keep boards on pack until after the bridge. there are large sections of vehicle tracks as well as various "trenches" and patches of dirt. not the on and off skin/walk game.

I skinned most of the way up to the toe of the NW ridge. There is a firm trail that I would pick up from time to time. this is walkable without flotation if your judgment is good. I assume it enters La Plata Gulch. I encountered foot steps up the 150 feet of steep snow to the ridge itself.

Snowboard or ski crampons would minimize your transitions between walking and skinning on the ridge.

Snowpack was firmly frozen above 11,000 feet and thawed around 11am below 11.4. everything else sported a stout crust mostly unbreakable on my board. Trench warfare below 11.4 to the trail.

All aspects seem to have undergone some capacity of MF metamorphosis. Western aspects in the alpine feature a 10cm crust on less consolidated snow. S. Aspects are very locked up as are east aspects.

Pit data on exposed N. aspects gives 5-10cm of MF crust, ontop 10cm P on 2-3 cm of 4F snow ontop of 30 cm 1F + to P snow. which also sits on a thin MF Crust.

I rode an unconventional line on the N. Face of La Plata. the top 400-600 feet were 20 cm of wind consolidated powder, but only in very protected areas. Below that, thin MF crusts have been developing. even on the due N. aspects with preserved old storm snow. The remainder of the snow has been slid out due to warming and loose avalanche cycles. - No evidence of slabs were found.

The report from Sayers from two days ago isn't great. Avalanche Hazard for them seemed to be due to warming and can be managed with timing (hot as balls on the 5th). This opinion comes from examining the debris on Sayers and from riding an identical aspect on La Plata.

Comments or Questions

aholle88

Sayres..
5/8/2016 5:56pm

was good to go a few weeks ago when we did it. No slabs to speak of then, just surface slough and point releases from the sun heating up the rocks. There are a lot of rocks though, and those small little point releases add up and look like big slides after enough of them go. Nice report on La Plata, good to see the actual avy/pit explanations!

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