Snowpack
The weather today felt like a tale of two stories. Winds from W/SW, at times a bit NW too. While booting up Glory it was sunny and warm when the sun poked out. However, when skiing north into Chicken Scratch, and along the ridge lines, there were moderate winds with some grauple that was being transported around the ridges and channeling a bit down the bowls - it didn’t feel like spring there. Exiting at the end of the day, grauple turns transitioned to schmoo on SE below 9,000’.
While skiing a steep NE aspect, I was able to easily isolate the 3/29 layer with hasty pole pit shears, down 30-40cm at 9,684’ NE. They pulled off in the medium range but I got one to break very easily. Away from the thin spots I couldn’t get them to budge much, and was only able to pull off minor wind slabs that maxed at 10-15cm depth and were stubborn to skier triggering.
I also wanted to dig down and investigate the 3/29 layer before the big warm-up. At 9,363’ South facing, on the ridge between Little Tucks and Unskiabowl. I had an ECTN26 down 35cm from the surface, on the 3/29 layer (3/20 was down 60cm here). While not a very impressive result, the second I pulled my shovel on the test block it sheared off cleanly and with ease. While the facets above the crust appear to be rounding, that easy pull elevates my radar given the upcoming warm temps. It will be interesting to see this layer tested by the warm-up.