Quick report
- Red Flags
- Poor Snowpack Structure
- Red Flags Comment
- <p>No signs of recent instability. The poor snowpack structure continues to be the biggest red flag in the areas I traveled. It was the warmest day in a while so I kept that in mind as well.</p>
I traveled from 6800-10,000 ft, north half of the compass, angles to 32 degrees. Most of the terrain I was traveling in was fairly protected so wind loading was not an issue.Generally speaking the snowpack is thin and weak below about 8000/8500 ft. The snow pack above 8500 ft is deeper and has a bit more strength. My CT and ECT tests had inconclusive results. No results on ECT tests on N, NNW and NE facing slopes. CT test scores 11-25. Columns failed on basal facets, and at both interfaces from the faceting events in January. The basal facets were large grains (3+mm). The January facet interfaces were small grain (1mm). Shear quality was generally Q3 although I did get a couple of Q1 shears on small grained facets from the first faceting event. I've seen some really strong snow and just a few hundred feet away some really weak snow. Anyway, there just seems to be a tremendous amount of spacial variability which makes decision making tricky.
Snowpack
Fast, creamy settled powder on north thru east facing slopes. Damp on west facing slopes. Mel/freeze crust on lower elevation west facing slopes at the end of the day.