Quick report
Lucked out with another excellent day of skiing before the next storm rolled in. • Temps were in the teens on the canyon floor in the morning and notably warmer as we gained elevation. Evidence that the arctic air was slowly but surely spilling over the divide, and had begun pooling into the Essex area. Temps were in the upper 20s as we neared our high point. • Thankfully the winds held off for almost our entire tour today. And we observed little to no evidence of wind effect overnight. Due to this fact, we felt comfortable stepping out into steep north and east facing slopes. We experienced minor sloughing on slopes greater than 35 degrees. • Winds and light snow entered the area shortly after we began our last descent of the day. (Approximately 230pm). Once reaching the canyon floor, temps were back in the teens and winds were blowing snow out of the east with a steady light intensity and the occasional moderate gust. We speculated whether winds were stronger on the canyon floor as can sometimes happen during overrunning arctic events like this. • The snowpack has settled significantly over the past few days. Ski penetration was near boot top now (As oppose to knees or deeper). Due to continued calm winds and cool air, the surface snow remains unconsolidated and dry, even on south facing slopes that experienced some intermittent sunshine today and earlier this week. •Snowfall intensity was about S1-S2 during our entire trip home through the canyon this evening. No signs of instability.
Weather
- Cloud Cover
- broken
- Wind Loading
- none
- Recent Snowfall
- 2
- Snow Avail For Transport
- large amounts
Cold in the canyon, cool up high. Winds were calm all day until about 230pm when they picked up to light with moderate gust out of the east. The intrusive east winds were accompanied by steady light-moderate snowfall.