Quick report
Even with the warm temperatures and lack of a hard freeze for several days, north aspects above 7,500 feet were still hanging onto cold, dry, sugary snow. The east-facing terrain on Van Patten was wet and mushy. Difficult to tell how thick the ice was on Van Patten Lake, but we stuck to walking along the shoreline. The trail from Little Alps was snow-covered, with a few trees down across the road and trail up to the lake.
Weather
- Air Temp
- 46
- Cloud Cover
- clear
- Wind Loading
- none
- Recent Snowfall
- 0
- Snow Avail For Transport
- small smounts
It felt like April, with warm temperatures above 7,000 feet and no wind.
Snowpack
At 8,000 feet on a NW aspect, there was 4 feet of snow, or 130cm, in the location I dug my snowpit. The snow above the 12/18 crust was right side up and felt strong. Each layer observed held facets that were rounding. I conducted a Compression Test, with no results (CTN), and an Extended Column Test (ECTX).