Quick report
- Cracking
- isolated
Traveled up the Tuckerman Ravine Trail toward Tuckerman Ravine around 10:30 AM to assess the size of new slabs and distribution of recent snow. Travel on skis was easy going, with consistent coverage from new snow along most of the trail. Ski penetration averaged ~6 cm, increasing slightly in drifted areas. Isolated sections were scoured down to the old surface.
Visibility was poor and winds were strong, limiting travel above treeline. We dug a snowpit on a southeast facing 29 degree slope at ~4200 ft on the climber’s right side of the Tuckerman Ravine Trail.
Cracking was observed between skis along the Tuckerman Ravine Trail. Unsupported pockets of snow between established skin tracks produced shooting cracks with propagation lengths up to 1 meter.Weather
- Air Temp
- 7
- Cloud Cover
- obscured
- Wind Loading
- moderate
- Recent Snowfall
- 2.2 inches
- Snow Avail For Transport
- moderate amounts
Strong winds from the northwest with blowing snow. Clouds were moving quickly, we had some patches of lighter sky above, but they didn't stick around.
Snowpack
Our snowpit revealed 6 cm of F-hard new snow overlying ~70 cm of P+/– snow. A 3cm 1F layer was present towards the bottom of our pit before transitioning back to P hardness near the base of the pit. Our pit depth was ~85cm.
Compression Test resulted in CTH with a non-planar fracture in the 1F layer. An ECT produced ECTX. The top 6cm of snow compressed easily under shovel taps. A shovel shear used to remove the block of snow broke towards the bottom of our pit within the 1F layer.
Hand shears within the new snow were variable. In some areas, consolidated snow produced easy results, while in others the snow was cohesionless and did not produce a slab-like response.