Tuckerman Ravine

In Tuckerman Ravine today, based on a walking tour on the floor of the ravine and into Chicken Rock Gully, we observed less wind slab development and more wind scouring than expected. There may be small pockets of unstable snow drifted into wind-protected areas on steep slopes, but evidence was hard to find. We were pleased to have chosen to walk with crampons rather than be on skis.

The forecasted 7-10 inches of new snow tonight and tomorrow could significantly alter this landscape.

Many hours of strong wind worked to strip new snow from open areas, limit the accumulations of drifting snow and redistribute any loose snow into the trees below. The majority of the snowpack surface remains the refrozen old snow warmed from the warm temperatures last weekend and thin pockets of new snow here and there.  Based on our observations, it appears that areas retaining new snow are predominantly located on the lower sections and mid-slope ledges of steep slopes, where snow piles have continued to form from minor accumulations sliding down these lee slopes. Our investigation focused on the snow accumulation beneath The Lip, where we found a layer of 8-12 inches of 1F hard snow that was well-bonded to the underlying surface. This layer exhibited no discernible structure or apparent instability.