Quick report
We toured up to the Notch today to see how snow surfaces were holding up to the current winds and to see how deeply the February 10 rain/melt-freeze crust is buried in this area. The tour up was straightforward, and the cat road had decent coverage, aside from a few sneaky Devil’s club. There was approximately 40–50 cm of snow down low in the trees, with about 10 cm sitting on top of the stout February 10 rain/melt-freeze crust. Snow surfaces in the trees were dry and unaffected by wind, though the abundance of pine needle debris throughout told a different story about the upper tree canopy's exposure to wind.
Temperatures steadily declined to around −10°F, and winds were gusting in the 30 mph range out of the SSE by the time we reached the ridge. We observed active, moderate snow transport, and many upper-elevation areas had moderate amounts of soft snow available left for transport despite all the previous wind events.
Hiding from the offensively cold wind on a north aspect, we dug a snowpit at 2,200 ft. We found approximately 30 cm of near-surface facets above the February 10 rain/melt-freeze crust (facet sandwich). In addition to the December facet layer, we also identified a substantial 30 cm layer of cupped basal facets. Despite the presence of multiple weak layers, our ECT produced stable results. After digging the pit, we toured another couple hundred feet higher and skied down a northerly aspect. Snow surfaces varied widely on the descent, ranging from soft and dry to wind-scoured down to the February 10 crust layer.
Weather
- Air Temp
- -10 to 5
- Cloud Cover
- broken
- Wind Loading
- moderate
- Rain Elevation
- not observed
- Snow Avail For Transport
- moderate amounts
We left the parking area with the car thermometer showing a better-than-expected 5°F above zero. Winds were light in the valley bottom at 10 a.m., but increased throughout the day and as we gained elevation. Gusts at the nearby Alyeska Top of the Quad weather station were clocking 30 mph out of the SSE, which seemed representative of conditions in the Notch. There was no sign of an inversion, and temperatures were much colder up high, around −10°F.
Snowpack
Snowpit #1:
HS: 120 cm
Elevation: 2,200 ft
Aspect: 6° (N)
ECTN12 @ 25 cm ↓
ECTN24 @ 45 cm ↓
(Non-propagating results both above and below the February 10 rain/melt freeze crust layer.)
At this location, the February 10 rain/melt freeze crust layer was approximately 30 cm down and had facets on both sides. December facets were found at approximately 65 cm down. We also observed fist-hard, basal facets from 30 cm down to the ground.