Quick report
I observed a shallow snowpack at 7800’ and very poor snowpack structure at the bottom of the snowpack near the ground. Did not observe evidence of recent avalanche activity other than the occasional old roller ball buried by recent snow fall. Was unable to trigger instability on small, inconsequential test slopes.
Weather
- Air Temp
- 28
- Cloud Cover
- overcast
- Wind Loading
- none
- Recent Snowfall
- 8
- Snow Avail For Transport
- moderate amounts
Mostly foggy/cloudy conditions prevailed. Intermittent light snow showers all day. Winds were calm. We received about an inch of new snow during my ski tour.
Snowpack
Snowpack depth at this location was 58cm. The upper 70% of the snowpack is pretty much right side up. The lower 30% of the snowpack at this location consists of a combination of well developed facets and decomposing crust layers. At the ground there is a thin layer of basal ice. I performed an Extended Column Test at this location. My column failed and propagated (ECTP13) in the middle of a faceted layer about 12 or 13 cm’s above the ground. Although I saw no evidence of avalanche activity during my tour, I would rate stability at and near this area as poor because of weak snowpack structure.