Quick report
- Aspect
- East
- Red Flags
- Wind Loading, Cracking
- Elevation
- 3292 m
- Slope Angle
- 27°
- Red Flags Comment
- <p>In the 5-10 cm of wind-loaded low-density new snow I witnessed cracking on a wind-crust bed surface. I witnessed this on a northeast aspect at the same elevation as my pit.</p>
The photo was taken at the top of the Brian Head ridge around 10900 feet. Light wind, cold temps (15 degrees F and falling), rimed up trees from the receding fog, and wind-affected snow.
Snowpack
- Instability Comment
- <p>In the 5-10 cm of wind-loaded low-density new snow I witnessed cracking on a wind-crust bed surface. I witnessed this on a northeast aspect at the same elevation as my pit.</p>
South and west to northwest snow surfaces were very wind-affected, with hard surface snow broken up by occasional wind drifts. On north and northeast (and I believe easterly) aspects there was an underlying layer of wind crust and the new snow on top of this cracked as you skied through it. In deeper drifts, on steeper slopes, or above exposure this could be problematic. I believe this is what I was seeing in my pit in my compression test when I had a resistant planar fracture. The bed surface I presume was a wind crust from a previous wind event as that crust lay between two layers of fist hard snow at the top of the snowpack.
With the occasional fog there was some rime on the trees and snow surface.