Quick report
- Red Flags
- Wind Loading
- Red Flags Comment
- <p>Wind was the most obvious issue today.</p>
Photo above is an example of cross-loading well down into the trees, near the valley bottom. It doesn't show in the photo very well but the wind was transporting quite a bit of snow here.
Snowpack
- Instability Comment
- <p>This observation is primarily to note that odd up-canyon winds were cross-loading slopes. So much snow was being transported that our skin track was filled between runs due to wind transport. Although this is something that could catch you by surprise, ski cuts didn't really produce much in the way of results. This may change with more snow forecast. </p>
Wind made a big difference in snow quality. In wind sheltered areas, snow was nice low density powder. There had also been a good bit of accumulation over the prior week from consistent light snow in N/NW flow. Lower, towards the valley bottom strong winds created dense and variable drifts that made skiing less consistent.