Quick report
- Cracking
- specific
- Collapsing
- specific
As I drove up to the trailhead from Christmas Valley at about noon, the rain changed to wet snow at about 7200 ft. It was snowing lightly when I started out with relatively light winds but with strong gusts. Winds were unusually coming from E/SE as I approached the mountain on Grass Lake; at the ridge, there were strong SW winds with swirling effects from gusts. The snow increased in intensity as my tour went on. The snow was very wet until about 8000 ft; it was actually squeaky, both on the ascent and descent. Also, coverage below 8000 ft is a little tricky with a lot of lumpy terrain. Above 8000 ft, snow amounts increased while density decreased; coverage above 8000 ft is very good. The snow remained a bit heavy all the way to the top. On the way down, it was somewhat heavy dust on crust with some decent scraping of the layer underneath, especially near the ridge. Back at the trailhead, it had not snowed much while I was out, but the snow started coming down more heavily on the drive down/north on 89. Rain/snow line at 5:00 pm was at least down to 6300 ft.
Weather
- Air Temp
- Hovering around freezing
- Cloud Cover
- overcast
- Wind Loading
- previous
- Rain Elevation
- 7700 ft, changing to 6300 ft
- Recent Snowfall
- 2-22cm
- Snow Avail For Transport
- small smounts
This current storm appears to be gaining in intensity with lowering rain/snow levels.
Snowpack
Prior to this latest storm, the snowpack appears to have been remarkably stable in this area. Except near the ridge, there was usually a locked-down, thick stable layer that was hard to move by any means. I stomped on small cornices, tried to release slabs off of rocks and logs, yanked on small walls of snow, and none of it would break off, until I got to the ridge proper. Near the ridge, past and current wind effects are significantly present. Up there, cornices broke off with a little force; they were reactive but not touchy. HS measurements during the tour, all on NW aspect: 8000 ft, HS 90 cm, 2 cm new; 8500 ft, HS 91 cm, 10 cm new; 9000 ft, HS 115 cm, 12 cm new; 9475 ft, HS 165 cm, 22 cm new. At both 9000 and 9475 ft, there were several layers of crust with a bottom crust of between 5-10 cm.