Quick report
The surface hoar made for a beautiful walk in the woods today. I even found a few good turns on a northerly aspect, where the crust was thin enough that I didn't notice it under my skis.
Surface hoar was present everywhere. I thought the sun might have destroyed it on solar-facing terrain, but this was not the case. It is growing on a crust, which will make for a perfect weak layer and bed surface combination after the next snowfall. It will be interesting to see how much of this surface hoar survives to get buried.
I talked to a few people in the parking lot, who confirmed surface hoar on all aspects and elevations on Mt. Fuji, and along the nordic trails.
Weather
- Air Temp
- 30
- Cloud Cover
- scattered
- Wind Loading
- none
- Rain Elevation
- N/A
- Recent Snowfall
- 0
- Snow Avail For Transport
- none
Temperatures stayed just below freezing all day, and thin clouds covered the sun, preventing the snow surface from becoming moist. Winds were calm.
Snowpack
There was surface hoar on the snow surface everywhere, except for in the densest trees. Surface hoar varied in size from 2 mm to larger than 2 cm (one inch). This surface hoar sat on a crust of varying thickness. On southerly aspects the crust was about an inch thick (2 cm), and on due north aspects it was thin and breakable.
Below the crust, there was soft (four-finger to fist) mixed forms. These mixed forms were small (about 0.5 mm) and somewhere between facets and rounds.
I did not dig below about a foot (30 cm) deep.