Quick report
We wanted to check snow surfaces and coverage before the incoming storm.
Snow coverage was surprisingly good on shady aspects and flat surfaces in open areas from about 3500ft and up. Coverage was dire in areas with thicker tree canopies up through the mid elevation band. Just traveling on foot without flotation proved mainly successful, with at times only a few inches of soft snow over firmer yet mostly grippy surfaces.
Sunny slopes just had crusts at the surface, whereas shadier aspects had a few inches of low-density snow over the crust, and we found surface hoar and facets.
Weather
- Cloud Cover
- overcast
- Wind Loading
- none
- Rain Elevation
- 3500
- Recent Snowfall
- 8
- Snow Avail For Transport
- small smounts
Overcast and calm in the sheltered area where we traveled. Very tiny midday sun breaks. Precipitation was expected from 10am but hadn't arrived by our departure at 1pm.
Snowpack
Snow surfaces and coverage varied greatly depending on aspect and elevation:
Coverage finally began to get a bit more consistent by the time we reached our highest elevations above 5000ft. We were surprised to find snow coating surfaces as low as 3500ft in open areas that were either flat or on shaded aspects. Anywhere with a thick tree canopy, however, was mostly bare down to the ground, even through a good chunk of the mid-elevation band.
South and west-facing slopes were crusty and usually bumpy on the surface, whereas north and east aspects had 2-3 inches of low-density snow from 2/9 sitting over the crust.
In areas with the low-density snow, I also found surface hoar and small amounts of near-surface facets. The surface hoar was impressive in open areas at around 3700ft, reaching 5-10 mm in size, not requiring magnification. At 5200ft on a north-facing slope, it was 1-2mm, and hardly detectable without a loupe. There was also a small amount of near-surface facets above the crust in this area, but hardly detectable.
I dug a pit at 5200ft, and aside from the soft upper layer, there were crusts nearly all the way down to the ground- a meager 100cm below the snow surface, or just over 3ft. Snow was notably creeping down, primarily from when it was soft and wetter, in any very steep areas. A few old glide avalanches and cracks were seen.
The crust was supportable on foot in most areas, and we were usually able to kick steps for enough grip on slopes. By midday, we sunk in an inch or two, but it remained mostly supportable.