Quick report
The primary avalanche hazard was the wind slab from the last few days of high winds. We observed the slab to be thick and very stubborn, but we were concerned with think spots triggering the slab. The resulting hard slab avalanche, if triggered, would be D2 in size or greater. We did not observe any wind slab above 4800ft where the snow was very firm and scoured. This aligned with the forecast of Mod (avalanches unlikely, but size up to D2 if occurred) at middle elevations and Low at higher elevations.
Weather
- Cloud Cover
- overcast
- Wind Loading
- light
- Recent Snowfall
- 8cm
- Snow Avail For Transport
- moderate amounts
Calm winds and light snowfall in the morning. Skies started clearing around noon as the wind picked up. When we began our last lap at 1300 wind was approx 20-25mph from the NW, and the morning's light snow was being transported al elevations above 4800ft.
Snowpack
In Main Gully we did 3-4 handshears between 4300 and 4700ft and found a 20-25cm slab of 1F hardness that released on a smooth planar surface with moderately strong force. The new snow was bonding well to the old snow at middle elevations. At higher elevations (4800ft and higher) the old snow was very firm and heavily wind scoured. Despite a relatively good snowpack for mid-Dec, there remain many thin spots. Water ice, rocks, and vegetation can be easily found just below the snow surface - and we found some.