Quick report
Went out to No Name Bowl on the PC Ridgeline today. I was curious about what the snow was doing on the slope I avalanched out to the ground about a month ago. I was thinking there could be two scenarios, one, that there was a slab from the last two storms sitting on an icy slick bed surface or on facets that formed on the thin bed surface, or two, that there was no slab and the whole bowl had basically faceted out to the ground again. If there was a slab that would bring out questions of stability, if there was no slab there was no reason not to ski it. Ski cutting along the ridge only produced sluffing in the faceted surface snow. Stepping into the bowl below the old crown revealed 2 feet of loose faceted snow basically sitting on dirt which in my book means a green light to go. This years been a little tough because each slope skied is different, some have avalanched multiple times like W Monitor, some have slid on a faceted layer above a crust and left the facets in the bed surface, some have ripped out to the dirt like No Name and some slopes have not slid all season long. Slope history is a big part of how I figure out what to ski and what not to, and being patient and letting the new snow settle out and giving the snowpack time to adjust to the new load is critical. Many steep lines were skied on the PC Ridgeline today without any activity, seems like things are dormant for now but may reactivate with a large load.
Photos: only ones I took today where tracks and the sunrise, I throw up the sunrise for winter solstice
Snowpack
Recrystallized boot deep snow on the N end of the compass, damp or melt freeze crust on the S end. Most of the surface hoar was laid down during the day due to warm temperatures and wind.