Manto nevoso

Observation: Maybird Gulch

P DiegelSalt Lake
Vedi sulla mappa

Quick report

Aspect
North
Red Flags
Recent Avalanches, Wind Loading, Rapid Warming, Poor Snowpack Structure
Elevation
3139 m
Slope Angle
15°
Red Flags Comment
<p>Red flags related to conditions over the last few days, not going on today</p>

Isolated a column that failed quite easily with a shovel shear about 25 cm deep. The block that pulled out split about in half at a subtle crust layer when I set it down. The block I removed was mostly 4 finger hardness and the underlying snow was a mix of one finger and pencil harness for the additional 70 cm or so that I exposed. Compressing the underlying column yielded no results, even with some AK leg compression, and sticking a ski pole into the snow stopped the grip hard 25 cm down. Totally different from the wet snowpack I saw yesterday in Meadow Chutes and quite stout.

Snowpack

Instability Comment
<p>Guessing at this - saw no evidence today. Totally different conditions from yesterday - no wet warm snow, snow from the surface to ~90 cm deep consolidated and pretty dry. Saw no sign of recent activity.</p>

Odd surface - mostly consistent dense loose textured snow, 2-4 deep, on surfaces ranging from spongy (higher elevations) to hard and scratchy (lower elevations). Wind exposed areas had scattered sheets of shiny ice.