Quick report
- Aspect
- North
- Elevation
- 2713 m
- Slope Angle
- 23°
The snowpack is becoming much more supportable.
However, plenty of weak snow exists in the snowpack. There's a difference between weak and unstable. Layers in the snowpack are weak becase the individual crystals are poorly bonded to each other.
The snowpack is not necessarily unstable until it gets a load. It will become unstable again when it gets a load of new snow or wind-blown snow. Right now it is mostly stable but there are possiblye a few booby traps out there.
Snowpack
- Instability Comment
- <p>Two persistent weak layers to create a persistent slab avalanche problem.</p> <ol> <li>Buried surface hoar - it was an obvious stripe in the snowpack about 10 inches deep.</li> <li>Buried facets - weakest layer of facets was about 2 feet deep.</li> </ol> <p>I was surprised how widespread and easy to find the buried surface hoar was (see photo below - look at the obvious stripe in the snowpit wall). It did not exist on sunny/southerly aspects where a crust exists in its place. For now it is not a problem because the 10" of snow on top of it is not cohesive enough to make an avalanche.</p> <p><strong>ALSO</strong> - This surface hoar does not exists in any of the high traffic areas like all over Monte Cristo Peak. <strong>Skiers, expert snowmobilers, and snowbikers who venture away from these compacted areas will need to looking for this layer when the next storm comes. </strong></p>
No rime crust in the Monte area. Powder on shaded slopes above 8000 feet is still in great shape. Good riding where you can get away from old tracks.