Quick report
- Cracking
- isolated
- Collapsing
- specific
I measured 10-12 inches of new snow. The wind was forming stiff drifts of snow near ridgelines in middle elevation terrain. I received a couple of large booming collapses above 8800', failing on weak facets near the ground.
I primarily traveled on S-SW slopes. On the solar aspects I traveled on today, the snowpack structure changed quickly in response to elevation. Down low, my ski poles were hitting dirt and firm crusts. Within 300' of climbing, the snowpack grew in depth, and I was getting collapses. It was a good reminder of how quickly the snowpack and stability can change over a very short distance.
No avalanches observed, but I could barely see the topsheets of my skis. Cracking and collapsing was limmited to wind-loaded areas in exposed middle elevations.Weather
- Cloud Cover
- obscured
- Wind Loading
- moderate
- Recent Snowfall
- 30
- Snow Avail For Transport
- large amounts
Snow: I measured 4 inches of new snow this morning. It snowed 6-8 inches when I was in the field (for 4.5 hours), totalling 10-12 inches of new snow since this morning. Wind: Winds were calm below 8500', and they increased to moderate speeds above 8500' when traveling near exposed ridgetop features. Snow was being blown around, but was limited to exposed terrain features such as ridgelines or downsloping ribs.
Snowpack
7000' to 8800': I was traveling on S-SW terrain, and the snowpack in these areas was thin and felt benign. 25-30" of new snow sitting on a melt-freeze crust capping dirt. I was getting small cracks in the new snow, but they were most likely from sagebrush bouncing under my weight.
8800'-9500': Snowpack gained depth above 8800'. The deepest I measured was 95cm (about 3') on a SW slope at 9300'. The 12/15 crust was down 30". The crust was thin in this location, and I could not make out any facets associated with the crust. However, the facets near the ground (most likely 12/05) were large-grained and moist. I got propagating test scores on medium force in large column tests on the basal facets. The handful of booming collapses I received was most likely from the 12/05 layer collapsing.