Steamboat & Flat Tops

Clear skies with light southwest winds. Measured air temperatures were between 53-57 degrees Fahrenheit above 9,000 feet, with the nearby Elk River SNOTEL site at 8,700 feet recording 63. No new snow.

Snow surfaces were already moist when I started skinning around 10am. While skinning to the ridge, I noticed most of the south facing slopes steep enough to avalanche had discontinuous snow coverage. While traversing these shallower solar aspects, I experienced localized collapsing near rocky terrain. Boot penetration was to the ground where height of snow was around 70cm or less, as the water moving through the snowpack had made it unsupportive. Southeast and east aspects both held a 30-35cm slab over weaker, moist to wet facets, but the slab on southeast aspects was further deteriorated. On an east facing slope where the height of snow was 65cm, water had percolated to the ground, and I saw what could have been a glide crack (see photo) as it failed at the ground, though it was hard to tell when the crack originated. As I continued climbing the ridge and looked at more shaded aspects, height of snow increased above a meter and was much more supportable to boot penetration. On a previously wind-loaded northeast facing slope, I found height of snow to be 120-130cm. The slab was thick and mostly pencil hard. Only the facets at and near the ground remained dry.