Quick report
- Red Flags
- Wind Loading, Rapid Warming, Poor Snowpack Structure
- Red Flags Comment
- <p>The snow over in Corkscrew is not as deep as similar areas in Gold Basin ranging from 60-100 cm with a modal depth of probably 85. The wind effects were pretty limited in the forest, but were evident on exposed open areas above 10,700. The alpine looked pretty bad from our vantage. The more shallow snow in Corkscrew has deteriorated over our periods of high pressure and is mostly facets of various sizes under the last storm cycle. Luckily the whole snow profile is weak and so there is no real cohesive slab to slide, but plenty of potential to get some loose sloughs going on more extreme terrain. We did a series of 3 CT tests during our tour with no results. The columns just slowly disintegrated through the test due to lack of cohesion. Luckily the profile starts soft (F), then is slightly more dense through the mid layers (F+) and then gets slightly denser at the ground (4F). The differences are pretty subtle, but despite being weak, the profile is not upside down. The layers of faceting are quite clear in the picture below. If we get any load on this snowpack, it will go. We were definitely keen on staying off any wind slabs that were deposited on top of the faceted old snow. </p>
Picture of snow pit showing layers of facets in old snow below the last storm snow. The facets start 20-25 cm below the snow surface and are generally present all the way to the ground. The facets ranged in size from 0.5 mm to 3 mm with most layers being closer to 1-1.5. The visible facet layers 25 cm and 45 cm below snow surface were the largest at ~2-3mm and would be my layers of concern if there was a cohesive slab on top.
Snowpack
- Instability Comment
- <p>The wind has been at work, the drifts were pretty isolated on our route, but our objective was the most wind sheltered terrain we could find. It looks like the winds might kick up tomorrow, which will likely increase this issue.</p> <p>Although not reactive right now, the facets in this area can easily become a large concern if 1) the last storm snow consolidates into a more cohesive slab, or 2) we get a significant load on top of the current snow pack.</p>
As you can see, just about every kind of snow surface could be found today depending on aspect and prominence of exposure. There were still nice soft turns to be found in the most sheltered areas.