Quick report
- Red Flags
- Collapsing, Poor Snowpack Structure
- Red Flags Comment
- <p>In this area the snowpack structure is quite weak. I had numerous collapses, but they have lost much of their rumble and were more localized to the area around my skis </p>
Roller balls and damp wet snow near 10,000' in the middle of December is quite unusual. The forest is busy with all sorts of winter recreation and folks are taking advantage of the easy access with dry roads.
Only about a foot of snow on the ground for the snow sensor to measure at 10,500'.
Poor snowpack structure with dense snow resting on very weak November sugary faceted snow. Each time I tried to isolate a column of snow the entire block failed on the large grained sugary snow near the ground.
Snowpack
- Instability Comment
- <p>Lots of weak snow near the ground with denser snow on top making for an upside snowpack.</p>
Nearly checked all the boxes with a wide variety of snow conditions out there. I was surprised to see some roller balls and point releases even at the 10,000' elevation. Getting around is generally thin, but enough snow for some ok travel. The warm weather has actually helped settle and soften some areas and you can find acceptable snow in between all the rocks and trees.