Quick report
Limited visibility of neighboring peaks/flat light made observations tough. See weather and snowpack fields for observations. Minor wind loading at our ridgeline, but there wasn't much snow available for transport at our location. Visibility was limited of nearby ridges, so uncertain of wind transport on neighboring peaks.
Weather
- Air Temp
- 38
- Cloud Cover
- overcast
- Wind Loading
- light
- Recent Snowfall
- Trace
- Snow Avail For Transport
- small smounts
Warm. 38 degrees at the highway, and barely below freezing along the ridgeline. Overcast skies, light variable winds gusting moderate below treeline. Above treeline, occasional light North or Southeast winds, gusting moderate from the SE.
Snowpack
Snow Surface: Parking lot to 1600': Supportable thick crust with a dusting of soft snow 1600' - 1900': Breakable, 3-5cm thick crust with 1-2" of soft snow on top 1900' - 2200': Very fragile, thin melt freeze/drizzle crust that didn't affect ski quality at all. By the end of the day, the snow surface was moist at 2200' and below. 2200' - 3300': Consistent 1-3" ski penetration, with signs of wind affect from the past 24-48 hours, and signs of massive winds during the storm at the treeline elevation band. Recent ski tracks, while still visible, had been filled in, and some thin wind skins/2-4" wind slabs could be found on select features. Snowpack: Probed from 2500' to 3300' on the main west face to get a feel for crust burial depth and snowpack depth variation, both generally and by elevation... and to pick the thinnest spot on the main face to dig a pit around 3000' in elevation. Pit structure and test results from 3050' are below. From 2500' - 2800': Average snowpack depth of ~180cm, with variation from 150cm - 300cm. The Holiday crust could be felt roughly halfway down at any given spot, becoming less firm/noticeable when probing with elevation. From 2800' - 3300': Average snowpack depth of ~230cm, with variation from 170cm - 320cm+. Crusts became less apparent when probing around 3000' and couldn't be felt at our high point. Overall... what a storm/new snow last weekend!! And it was surprising that there weren't pockets of deeper soft snow on the mountain.