Snodgrass

A very weak snowpack exists on the shady aspects of Snodgrass.  Previous avalanche activity left a very shallow and well-faceted snowpack.  Dry Loose avalanches took little effort.  Riding conditions on slopes steeper than 30 degrees were poor due to a lack of support in the snowpack; you can eke out some reasonable turns on the lower-angled slopes that hold an entire season's snowpack.

Steep, northerly slopes on Snodgrass easily produced loose avalanches.

The snowpack on shady terrain is weak and faceted like most shady slopes in the forecast area.  Nearly every slope steeper than 32 degrees naturally ran during the Thanksgiving cycle, leaving most steep slopes with depths less than 2 feet composed of 2 - 3 mm facets.  I found buried surface hoar just a few inches below the surface, but this is a trivial point given how weak the entire snowpack is.  The snowpack on north and east slopes in this area will have a low threshold whenever the storm track returns. 

Winds over the past week created a thin wind board on some open slopes near the valley bottom.