Quick report
We headed towards Raven Ridge to see how much snow had fallen and if the buried surface hoar layer was still concerning. There was 4 to 8” new snow that got deeper the higher we went on sheltered slopes and wetter at lower elevations. We dug two pits without concerning results. We did find the buried surface hoar around 1.5’ deep. As temperatures are expected to warm up over the coming days wet avalanche activity will likely increase such as wet loose on the surface, glide avalanches, and wet slab avalanche activity.
Weather
We had light winds and cloudy skies with occasional sunshine. In the afternoon we had snow flurries with minimal accumulation.
Snowpack
We dug two pits, one at 2,100’ and the other at 2,600’. We found the surface hoar buried around 1.5’ deep (4 to 8mm) mostly laid on its side and rounding. This was much different than the upright 2” tall surface hoar discovered on March 21st. It had frozen to a melt freeze crust either above or below it. We did not get concerning results in our pit (ECTX). We noticed that the snowpack structure in general seemed to be gaining strength. The surface hoar layer as well as the deeper weak layers seemed to be bonded together better. Keep in mind this was only from two pits in a specific location.