Quick report
Our AIARE 1 Motorized Course traveled from the Grande Ronde snopark and completed a loop out towards Chicken Hill, Peavy Cabin, and back to the snopark. During our loop, we observed crusty conditions on all aspects affected by the sun, and soft snow on shaded aspects. Anytime we entered a shaded aspect, near a water source, large surface hoar was present. The largest surface hoar was observed around the Peavy Cabin at 6,000 feet.
Weather
- Air Temp
- 45
- Cloud Cover
- clear
- Wind Loading
- none
- Snow Avail For Transport
- small smounts
Spring-like conditions over the weekend in the Elkhorns.
Snowpack
We dug a snowpit on a NW aspect at 7,300 feet directly West of the Anthony Lakes ski area. The height of the snow was around 3 feet or 110cm. We observed all of the prominent crusts that have been discussed in the avalanche forecasts for the Elkhorns, including the 1/3, 12/26, and 12/18. Our snowpack tests produced one "sudden collapse" result in a Compression Test. This was below the 1/3 crust, where facets were found.
Our takeaway was that the structure of the snowpack was fair. We conducted numerous Compression Tests and an Extended Column Test, which produced no results (false stable). This was likely due to the lack of a slab above the 1/3 crust.