Quick report
Surface snow was variable during travel from the floor of Tuckerman Ravine to below the “Y” buttress in Lobster Claw. The floor of the ravine was firm and scoured.
During our ascent we continued to travel on a mix of surfaces, from scoured to soft snow with ski penetration up to 6cm. About halfway up our ascent to our high point, we transitioned from skis to boots. Boot penetration varied from 2cm to 50cm, with deeper pockets towards our high point.
Hand shears in the softer snow were variable. We got results resembling wind slabs using moderate force in some places, while in others along the same aspect showed unconsolidated snow.
We observed many skiers/riders making their way up and down easterly aspects.
Generally stable conditions were observed in NE-S facing aspects in Tuckerman Ravine today. Very small pockets of unsupported windslabs released between ski tracks and dissipated before reaching the floor of the ravine.Weather
- Air Temp
- N/O
- Cloud Cover
- clear
- Wind Loading
- none
- Recent Snowfall
- 1.2
- Snow Avail For Transport
- moderate amounts
Clear, sunny skies all morning and into the afternoon. Winds were calm most of the day with short periods of moderate gusts. Warm day out in the sun. Comfortable with a baselayer.
Snowpack
We dug a quick pit on a S facing aspect in Lobster Claw at 5000ft in a fairly sheltered area. We were on the hunt for a wind slab. Our pit consisted of 60cm of mostly 4F snow sitting on top of a stout mf crust with P hard snow below the crust. A 2cm thick layer of graupel was sitting on top of the mf crust.
We performed an ECT which failed on isolation (ECTPV) within the graupel layer 60cm down. We performed another ECT just above our first and got the same results.
While our results did not feel representative of the majority of what we saw today, it does show there are wind slabs with potential for propagation in isolated, wind protected terrain in southerly aspects above 4000ft.
Outside of our pit location, the snowpack generally appeared more variable and less slab-like. In many areas, surface snow was unconsolidated, and we did not observe widespread cohesive slab formation on easterly, or southerly aspects. Snow in southerly aspects was a bit more settled than in easterly aspects likely due to solar effect. Ridgelines appeared to be wind effected and scoured in some places.