Quick report
We found overall stable conditions today on Lolo Pass and moist snow to the ground. W-N-E aspects at middle elevations have a very similar structure. This structure is largely a slab sitting on rounding facets and melt freeze crusts. Within the slab is rounding buried surface hoar. Below all of this is hard rounded grains and rounding facets. Extended column tests produced non-propagating results in the buried surface hoar layer. S aspects are considerably more shallow but with a somewhat similar structure as well save for the layer of buried surface hoar. An extended column test on this aspect produced non-propagating results on a crust. While poor structure still exists, the persistent slab problem at middle elevations in this zone is uncreative.
Weather
- Air Temp
- 22 (morning) - 32 (afternoon)
- Cloud Cover
- broken
- Wind Loading
- none
- Rain Elevation
- 4500
- Recent Snowfall
- Trace
- Snow Avail For Transport
- none
The sky was broken clouds all day, and occasional mini squalls of snow fell throughout the day. Temperatures were warm, and the wind was light and from the southeast.
Snowpack
We dug four snowpits on NW, E, S, and W aspects. The snowpack was moist to the ground in all four pits.
NW pit: The depth of this pit was 49" (124cm). We found a fist (F) - four finger (4F) hard slab of snow sitting on top of a 4F hard melt freeze crust. Within this slab was a layer of rounding buried surface hoar. Below the crust was a small layer of rounding near crust facets that overlayed a thin ice lense. Below this was a pencil (P) hard slab of rounded grains and one finger (1F) hard rounding facets at the ground. We performed an extended column test and got hard non-propagating results on the layer of buried surface hoar (ECTN21).
E pit: The depth of this pit was 50" (127cm). We found a F-4F hard slab of snow sitting on rounding facets that we suspect were previously near surface facets. Within this slab was a layer of rounding buried surface hoar. These facets sat on a 1F hard melt freeze crust. Below the crust was P hard rounded grains and 1F hard rounding facets at the ground. We performed an extended column test and got hard non-propagating results on the layer of buried surface hoar (ECTN23).
S pit: The depth of this pit was 29" (74cm). This pit was largely F hard with the exception of a 1F hard layer of rounded grains below melt freeze crusts. Between the crusts was rounding facets. We also found a layer of rounding facets at the ground. We did not find buried surface hoar in this pit. We performed an extended column test and got moderate non-propagating results above the first crust (ECTN15).
W pit: The depth of this pit was 50" (127cm). We found a F-4F hard slab of snow sitting on rounding facets that we suspect were previously near surface facets. Within this slab was a layer of rounding buried surface hoar. Below the facets was a 1F hard crust and a P hard ice lense with rounding facets between. Below this was P hard rounded grains and 1F hard rounding facets at the ground. We performed an extended column test and got hard non-propagating results on the layer of buried surface hoar (ECTN21).