Quick report
- Cracking
- isolated
Snowfall since Saturday deposited a trace-4" in this area. We saw no obvious signs of instability like cracking or collapsing, but found a generally poor snowpack structure. We saw some small plumes of wind-blown snow off upper elevation ridges in the Boulders.
Weather
- Air Temp
- Upper-20s F
- Wind Loading
- light
- Recent Snowfall
- 0-4" since (12/21)
- Snow Avail For Transport
- small smounts
A cloudy start to the day. Snow flurries were rimed and did not accumulate much. Pockets of blue midday gave way to mostly clear skies by late afternoon. Air temperatures were mild, and the air had a humid/muggy feel. The wind was light from the W and NW at our location. We saw some small plumes of wind-blown snow off upper elevation ridges in the Boulders.
Snowpack
New snow: We found 0-4" of new snow that fell since Saturday, 12/21.
Surfaces: On solar slopes, recent snowfall fell onto a strong, ~2cm thick crust with no obvious facets above or below. On shaded slopes, the new/old snow interface had no signs of facets below.
Weak Layers: On solar slopes, mid-December weak layers (12/7 & 12/13) yielded a variety of test results (ECTP 15, 24, 20, and 2 ECTX ). On shaded slopes, these layers were mostly unreactive in stability tests (ECTN 12, 13). See more details below.
Pit #1: (See Photo)
Apollo Ck, SW @ 9,100', HS = 107 cm, HST = 10 cm.
@95-97 |The (12/21) crust was strong and 2 cm thick. There were no obvious facets above or below. ECTN 5, 4, 5.
@60-65 |Tests returned ECTP 15, X, 23 above (12/7) and ECTP 24, 20, X below the stout midpack crust that was buried (12/7 and 12/13).
The lower 1/3 of the snowpack was strong, moist, and rounding.
Pit #2
Apollo-Norton divide, NE @ 9600', HS= 112 cm, HST = 10 cm.
@ 68 | Tests returned ECTN 12 & 13 on facets buried (12/7 and 12/13)