Quick report
- Aspect
- Northeast
- Red Flags
- Poor Snowpack Structure
- Elevation
- 2987 m
- Slope Angle
- 33°
- Red Flags Comment
- <p>I dug a pit to ground in order to get a visual of the snowpack structure in the area but did not do a complete profile. The snow depth was 175cm, with the faceted base layer being 25cm of 4 finger to fist hardness depth hoar. Much higher density snow exists above that layer for ~80cm. </p>
In general, the surface crust was unrelenting on all aspects and we did not find conditions that compelled us to continue skiing after one run.
I feel it necessary to say that given the avalanche incidents of the past week, and widespread acknowledgement of our poor snowpack structure, the number of tracks on steep to very steep terrain on the top half of the compass seems concerning.
Snowpack
- Instability Comment
- <p>Those facets buried near the ground are not going anywhere soon, but with each successive storm we are adding more mass to the slab on top of them. </p>
A .5 to 1cm radiant crust had formed on all aspects creating challenging but skiable "zipper crust" surface conditions. Face shots with crust fragments were frequent and uncomfortable.