Weather
- Air Temp
- -1
- Cloud Cover
- overcast
- Wind Loading
- none
- Recent Snowfall
- 0
- Snow Avail For Transport
- none
Friday was cloudy, but with good enough visibility that I could look north to the Sisters. There was a Moderate wind from the southeast near the summit of Paulina pk.
Snowpack
The snowpack that I observed today had changed little since Elliott's observation on Tuesday. The snow in general remains very shallow and options to ride are pretty limited. At lake level there are patches of dry ground and water ice. By 7000 ft. there is 50 cm. of snow, and by 7730 I found 75 cm. I found 2 potentially weak layers. The first is a layer of burried surface hoar that was only 8 cm. (about 3 inches) below the surface and wasn't particularly reactive, at least in the spots that I dug. The other was the layer of facets right on the ground that we have been mentioning. This layer continues to be reactive in compression tests (see video).
Avalanches appear to be unlikely simply because there is not enough snow to safely ride in avalanche terrain. The basal facets that we are finding lie beneath a 20 cm. thick rain crust and are unlikely to avalanche without a significant trigger or more snow.