Quick report
- Cracking
- isolated
Being at the beginning of the storm post rain from March 8th the upper snowpack didn't show much instability. Loose dry slid short and shallow and windslabs hadn't yet grown and were avoided. Lower down wet snow rode deep but did not point release or break off on pillows. The only cracking observed was at kick turns and the new proto wind slab was thin at approx. 5cm. However we avoided any leeward slopes where thicker slabs accumulated.
Weather
- Cloud Cover
- overcast
- Wind Loading
- intense
Steady strong winds with intense gusts hammered upper elevations while snow fell straight down in lower BTL elevations.
Snowpack
Steady strong winds scouring and snow falling gradually built windslabs up to 30cm at the time of midday observations. The rain crust from March 8th varied in thickness depending on elevation but was never supportable and disappeared completely near 4600 due to warm temps and wet snow. In some alpine areas the new snow was well bonded to the underlying crust while in other areas the new snow slid easily. Overall its a mysterious and varied story of elevation and aspect with in the upper snowpack.