Quick report
We observed a snowpack undergoing significant faceting, with slab properties weakening considerably. The current surface is likely to become a future problem when a substantial snow load is added.
Weather
- Cloud Cover
- few
Snowpack
I dug a single snow pit at 8,460' on a north-facing slope near Fox Peak, finding a shallow 48 cm snowpack. The upper snow consisted of faceted grains, while the mid-pack was deteriorating into 4F hardness atop a 1 cm temperature crust from October(?). Below that were 10 cm of dry, F-hard 1–2 mm facets extending to the ground. Stability tests yielded CT20(SC), ECTN25 on the basal facets, and ECTX. The snowpack has settled about 20 cm since Jess and Joe were last here on 11/24. I didn't track the rain crust well in this area, but it was prevalent at 7,230' with a hand pit and the rain crust was not observed at Tornak (8,200').
Avalanche
- Size
- D1
- Aspect
- SW
- Trigger
- N
- Elevation
- 10000 ft
We didn't spot any recent slab avalanches, most of the activity was wet loose slides from earlier in the week in steep, south facing terrain near rocks.