Commissary Ridge - Sheep Pass

Rode to the Commissary ridge weather station via the Smith Fork road and then up to Sheep Pass. Travel conditions are generally good above 9,000’ with the exception of a rain crust/ice layer that is present at the surface on all aspects at the middle and upper elevations. Snow may have a hard time bonding to this surface in the future and is certainly something to keep an eye on.

 We observed generally stable conditions where we traveled and did not note any signs of instability or recent avalanches in the past 48 hours. We did see two older avalanches that likely happened 3-4 days ago at the tail end of the most recent strom.

We spent most our time in the upper elevation band. Snow depths in sheltered terrain above 9,000' range from 3-4ft (90-120cm). Last week's rain left a surface crust/ice layer that is present on all aspects in the middle and upper elevations (up to 10k at least). At its worst, this layer is about 1 cm thick and very slick. Snow is beginning to facet (weaken) below the crust. The middle third of the snowpack is made up of a hard slab (1 finger). On a northeast facing slope at 9,700’, the bottom third is faceted snow from November that has gained some strength (4 finger). 

Current snowpack assessment: High strength, poor structure on high north facing slopes, potential exists to propagate a crack in basal facets but the likelihood of doing so is extremely low, rain crust on surface is very continuous and has low friction (slippery). This could end up creating a nasty future avalanche problem, though we will have to see how things pan out.