Quick report
- Collapsing
- isolated
What a difference an aspect makes... We took our level 2 course out to the Blewett pass area to see a different snow climate and were not disappointed. We found a small knob (see snow pilot plot for UTM) and sent groups to dig in different aspects. This location was a great place for a class. All teams were in 50m of each other but results varied widely. At my location, on the NE side just down from the top, we found fat snow with HS150. We found the 1/19 FR crust as predicted, but it was thinner and weaker than an eggshell. There might have been the faintest remains of some surface hoar, but it was hard to differentiate between the new snow on top... so maybe or maybe not. The new snow was soft and not moving on the crust. The deep persistent weak layer was 1mm to 4mm rounding facets with a hardness of 4F. Tests here were mostly unexciting likely due to the strong snow above the facets. I peeled off the upper 50cm to do a pseudo DTT on a 100cm column. I got it to break at 29. The column didn't move until touched, but then moved easily. Low likelihood, high consequence, but this was an abnormal section of snow. Other pits (N to NW aspects) had over 100cm of snow and the same facet layer ranging from 25cm to 50cm. Lots of variability. Now, the pit on the SE aspect had a HS35! A PST here (slope angle 30) delivered a slab fracture at 35/100 - see picture. I guess the good news is that slab was pretty soft (4F-), but stiffer snow on that layer could be touchy. We also got some very isolated whumphing by jumping on the snow in skis. This was limited to a radius of <2m from the jumper. In general, it is still very much low tide in this zone but the variability due to aspect and wind is astounding. We skied a tiny bit of dry snow and many little trees / logs to get to the exit trail. A nice day in a pretty area to poke around in the snow. Hopefully things can heal up if/when more snow arrives.