Quick report
We rode from Snug Harbor towards Lost Lake and got turned around near Mt. Adair once the storm started moving up towards the Martin valley from the east. We found a layer of surface hoar buried 3-6" deep on average in most quick hand pits we dug as we traveled, and triggered one small slab on this layer on a little wind-loaded roll. We dug a test pit in the V-Max area and found this layer to be the biggest concern.
Weather
- Cloud Cover
- obscured
- Wind Loading
- previous
- Rain Elevation
- 1500
- Recent Snowfall
- 10
- Snow Avail For Transport
- moderate amounts
Cloudy skies in the morning. Precipitation picked up early afternoon. The alpine valleys became completely socked in, snowing ~1"/hr by around 2 p.m. Active wind transport and mid and upper elevations all day.
Snowpack
We dug one quick snowpit and several hand pits as we rode. We found the Valentine's Day surface hoar layer in most of our hand pits, and it was very large in wind sheltered terrain. It was only buried 3-6" deep on average, and we didn't see any signs of recent avalanches failing on this layer. We did trigger one very small slab on a test slope that failed on this layer. It was a little wind-loaded roll and the layer was 6-8" deep.
There is some soft snow to be found, but we can use a reset. The scary thing is once we get the reset we will probably be looking at a bigger avalanche problem.