Quick report
It's been a thème, but what struck me was the variability in the area, not only between Sat and today, but also in the area itself. We had some open shots of good powder skiing. But then, every once in a while, we would end up in an area that appeared benign and not completely smooth, only to realize we were in a boulder field. I hit rocks, boulders, logs, scarcely buried tree branches, and many ski tracks. These obstacles may be covered by the coming storms. But at the moment, they continue to pose hazards. We were able to make some very small releases off of larger boulders and locally steeper areas. They were dry loose type, although the snow wasn't super dry while we were out there.
Weather
- Air Temp
- 30
- Cloud Cover
- overcast
- Wind Loading
- moderate
- Recent Snowfall
- 26
- Snow Avail For Transport
- small smounts
It was coming down hard at times with strong winds at and near the ridge. Wind direction was primarily SW with the occasional E gust.
Snowpack
At 8000 ft, we observed a couple of crust layers, including the Feb 10 layer 29 cm below the surface with 4f underneath. We also saw a higher, more brittle crust at 12 cm below the surface (the new snow at that time) with fist soft snow beneath. While we were out, it snowed 26 cm. At 10:30, there was already 12 cm. The snow came in a little heavy and lightened as the day progressed. By the time we left, the snow coming down was a little moist: snowball-able but only small snowballs.