Silverton Path of North Fremont

We observed some very small point releases along the steep northerly banks of Waterline Road at 9400'. They likely release during the Christmas Grinch rain. No other avalanches or signs of instability were observed. Skiing/snowboarding conditions were mostly bad. A few cm of powder on ice is not exactly fun. 

On northerly slopes, expect to find patches of bare ground below 9000'. On southerly slopes, expect to find bare ground or thin coverage below ~11000'.  We've lost a lot of snow due to warm temperatures and rain.  

The snowpack observations below are for near treeline (10800') in the Silverton Avalanche Path of Fremont Peak, North aspect. 

Found about 5cm (2") of new snow from the 12/27 precipitation. The loose snow was poorly bonded to the hard ice crust below, resulting in slippery, difficult skinning conditions when the slope was steeper than ~25°.  The Christmas Grinch Crust (CGC) was knife-hard and isolating for an ECT, and a full pit was laborious. See the snowpit image for results. In general, the snow structure was poor to ok, the snowpack was strong, and one test indicated that a failure could propagate. 

The ECTP25@74 result had very little energy and no suitable sliding surface, but it was a propagating result. However, I have difficulty believing that a person's weight could collapse a weak layer beneath the CGC. I wanted to do more column tests, but sawing through 20cm of knife-hard rain crust to test and document the snowpack is very hard work.  We did not have it in us to keep sawing for more tests, and we still had some survival skiing to do before it got too late!  In general, the avalanche hazard in this location today (Dec. 28) felt low. There was no wind loading, the main starting zones above were rocky, and the CGC was not going to budge. I did find a few fun turns in the lower-angle terrain just above the upper pumphouse at 9800'. 

Keep in mind you will need a saw to get through the CGC. A knotted column cord will not work.