Quick report
I traveled along the ridgeline on the south side of Crystal Amphitheater today. Snow totals from the last storm cycle were around 2.5 feet in the Lolo Pass area. The snow has begun to settle, but the trail breaking was still pretty deep. The recent snow built a slab above a variety of weak layers that previously formed at the snow surface. Those weak layers are beginning to show signs of healing but are still concerning. Overall, the persistent slab problem felt stubborn today. I did not observe any signs of instability other than some very minor cracking and propagating snowpit test results. Crust facet layers were the most sensitive in snowpits today. I did not observe any surface hoar in my two pits, but that doesn't rule it out. I would be especially concerned about any slope with surface hoar buried under the recent snow.
The terrain I traveled in today was generally wind protected and in middle and lower elevations, but I still observed some wind effected snow in the most exposed spots. I suspect that upper elevations are more wind effected. Instabilities within the recent snow are generally healing in wind protected areas, but I did observe a propagating snowpit test result 50cm deep on a density inversion in the recent snow.
Weather
- Cloud Cover
- broken
- Recent Snowfall
- 75
- Snow Avail For Transport
- moderate amounts
The sun came out through the clouds during the early afternoon, and then light snow showers moved through later in the afternoon. Winds were light, and temperatures were cool.
Snowpack
I dug two snowpits today. The first was on a southeast aspect at 5600 ft. I found two crust facet layers buried beneath 2.5 ft of recent snow. They produced propagating results in extended column tests with hard taps (ECTP24 and ECTP25). I also observed a propagating test result 50 cm deep within the recent snow on a density inversion. The second pit was on a north aspect at 6250 ft. I found faceted snow below the recent snow, but did not get any results in extended column tests.