Weather
- Air Temp
- 32
- Cloud Cover
- obscured
- Wind Loading
- previous
- Rain Elevation
- 3500
- Recent Snowfall
- 55
- Snow Avail For Transport
- large amounts
Variable obscured skies for the day with no wind. Very light snow (S-1) fell off and on throughout the day.
Snowpack
Consistent snow cover began at about 3500ft. A crust was detectable beneath the lighter new snow layer. Snow depths were about 100cm at 4000ft, and about 180cm at 5000ft. The crust progressively grew deeper beneath the new snow layer as we gained elevation. At 5100ft the crust was nearly 2 feet deep. Wind drifting was visible along the ridgeline where we traveled, although no cracking or signs of instability were detected.
A pit on a NW aspect at 5100ft showed a generally right side up snowpack, with the most notable layers being a midway crust and a moist layer of large-grained melt forms above the ground, both easily visible in the pit. Minor storm instabilities were detected with compression tests in the top foot of the snowpack. Probing in the area found a similar snow stratigraphy on all aspects.
Subtle warming progressed during our outing, and a just-barely-moist snow surface resulted in very small rollerballs that ran from our steps and tree bombs.