Weather
- Air Temp
- Above freezing
- Cloud Cover
- overcast
- Wind Loading
- none
- Recent Snowfall
- 0
- Snow Avail For Transport
- none
The day started below the inversion, but at 4500 ft we broke above it. Once above it we found mild temperatures, overcast skies, and light SW winds. Winds started ramping up after 2 PM and it started feeling noticeably cooler.
Snowpack
We parked and started riding sleds at 3500 ft ( where we thought continuous snow would persist). However, once above 4000 ft, the road started drying out due to the warm temperatures above the inversions. Fortunately, we were able to link up patches before hitting consistent snow at Morison Creek Campground at 5000 ft. If you have good tires and 4x4 I would recommend just driving to the CG and launching from here instead. By the time we hit the South Climb TH, we observed an HS of 75 cm.
We generally found supportable, moist travel. We didn't find any surface crust, just wet grains extending to our high point at 7000 ft. Above 6000 ft, we were pleasantly surprised to find a deeper snowpack than we anticipated. The HS ranged from 150-175cm depending on aspect.
The 12/6 crust acts as a significant marker in the upper snowpack. In this location we observed this crust sitting approximately a meter below the snow surface. Above this crust, we generally found a strong upper snowpack structure with snowpack tests yielding unremarkable results.