Quick report
Today, we went up Doris to target a slope that we knew had previously held weak snow from early and mid-December. We visited this site on December 19th and found a poor snowpack structure with unstable snowpit tests. The tables have turned for the better.
- Facets around the mid-December crust are now rounds, and we could not find the 12/7 buried surface hoar layer.
- We got no results in snowpack tests.
- We sidehilled/climbed steep slopes and triggered no avalanches, and observed no signs of unstable snow.
- There were MANY sled tracks on steep slopes with no triggered avalanches.
- Poor visibility and not bringing skis kept us from gaining the Swan Crest to assess for wind slabs.
- There are two freezing rain crusts in the top foot of snow. We certainly felt them sidehilling, but ultimately had little effect on riding. I imagine the skiing would be less than ideal.
Weather
- Air Temp
- Below Freezing
- Cloud Cover
- obscured
- Wind Loading
- none
- Recent Snowfall
- 4
- Snow Avail For Transport
- moderate amounts
Very poor visibility. No wind.
Snowpack
Dug a snowpit on a NE aspect at 6700 feet. Snowpack height was 190 cm and we observed no weak layers. There are two freezing rain cursts in the top foot of snow. ECTX