Quick report
Other than signs of previous warming, we observed very few signs of instability today. Exposed northerly slopes were not wind loaded and sun affected southerly slopes lacked enough new snow to make a wet loose problem...a problem. Corn o'clock came around 1 pm in the afternoon, which we noted was a bit on the later side. The crust below the corn was stout and fully boot supportable, and we weren't able to push any wet loose snow on steep south-facing slopes with our turns. How enjoyable ski conditions are right now are very angle, aspect, and time dependent on Snoqualmie Pass.
We observed a few glide cracks that formed on various aspects. We also observed numerous small wet loose avalanches mostly on east and south aspects. The exact date of these are unknown, but they likely occurred on Wednesday. We saw new rollerballs releasing in the afternoon on all aspects. We were able to trigger very small dinner plate sized chunks of wind skins on exposed northerly terrain.Weather
- Cloud Cover
- few
- Recent Snowfall
- 15
- Snow Avail For Transport
- small smounts
Low clouds cleared by about 8 am and some high clouds hovered on and off throughout the day. The sun definitely shone strong. The wind was calm with some light gusts at ridgeline. Temperatures were below freezing in the morning but quickly increased throughout the day.
Snowpack
In the morning, the snow at lower elevations was hard and refrozen, making for slippery skinning conditions. The snow softened as we ascended, and the skinning got easier but the extent of "crust" was palpable. On northerly middle and upper elevation aspects, we found approximately 15cm/6in of soft and dry new snow overlaying a crust. While booting up a steep section, the crust was sometimes softer and could be punched through, but it still felt dense and consolidated underneath. The hard surface crusts remained supportable throughout the day. In the afternoon, any snow that had been exposed to the sun had moistened, but the crust below still remained supportable. We noticed that even some northerly slopes with a more mellow slope angle were a bit crusty. We observed small grains of surface hoar that developed on northerly aspects.