Spout Springs

I headed up Spout Springs to check in on the snowpack since Victor's last observation from here showed some reactiveness in the January Facets.  As expected, but never satisfying, I got some mixed results.  One Extended Column Test Propagated on the 24th tap, one didn't propagate at all.  A propagation saw test failed at 47/100.   Extremely medium.   I did not stick around long enough to see any warming of the snow surface, but that is on the menu through the weekend.  Check out the video below to hear some tips on assessing wet snow avalanche problems.  

On my skin up the front side of Spout Springs, I found a supportive melt-freeze crust that was 4-6" thick.  There was a skiff of new snow above this crust.  I found about 7 feet of snow in my snowpit at 5400' on an ENE aspect.  The January Facets are 70 cm deep or between 2-2.5'.  They continue to give us mixed signals.  They are rounding, strengthening, and the hand hardness is increasing within this layer, but I'm still getting propagation in snowpack tests.  I also was able to make out a few lingering pieces of surface hoar in this location.   As the temperatures warm going into the weekend (forecasted into the mid 40's in the Blues!), we will need to start thinking about wet snow issues.  Check out the video below for some of the things we look for when assessing wet snow avalanche problems.