Quick report
- Aspect
- Northeast
- Red Flags
- Wind Loading, Cracking, Poor Snowpack Structure
- Elevation
- 2682 m
- Slope Angle
- 21°
- Red Flags Comment
- <p>Active wind transport as the afternoon winds picked up. Cracking observed in areas with wind-drifted snow. The January facets buried 2-3 feet deep were reactive in our snowpit (ECTP-28, 77cm beneath the surface).</p>
Today, we traveled to Garden City Bowls to see how the new snow stacked up. 1-2" at the trailhead turned to 3-4" at upper elevations in this area. Light winds in the morning ramped up throughout the day, and the new light-density snow was actively moving in the afternoon winds. In nearly all locations except true N-NE, we found a semi-supportable crust beneath the new snow that kept trying to grab you on the descent.
We dug on a NE slope at 8800' in an area with a non-supportable crust, and found reactivity on the January facets buried 2.5 feet deep (ECTP28). This kept us off steep N-NE slopes.
W-S-SE slopes exposed to the sun, or possessing multiple stout crusts, seemed to be "shrink-wrapped" or at least keeping us off the facets. However, I wouldn't be surprised if a large load (cornice/bomb-hole/wind-drifting) might get to it.
Snowpit on a NE slope at 8800'. We got propagation on the FACETS
ECTP-28 77cm down
Supportable to semi-supportable crust under the new snow
Snowpack
- Instability Comment
- <p>Actively getting loaded with new snow and wind-drifted snow.</p>
1-2" at the trailhead, 3-4" at upper elevations in this zone. Solar and steeper slopes held a supportable crust underneath the new snow. We found the crust to be unsupportable on NE-N slopes at upper elevations and on non-steep slopes.