Snowpack

Day Off. Birch Creek - Bishop Skyline.

Greg CunninghamEastside Region
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Observation photo 1Observation photo 2

Quick report

I wanted to take advantage of favorable coverage, stability, and weather to get up high in the Bishop zone.  I found the travel from the car generally easy from 8,400 feet.  I found the whole gamut of surface conditions between 8400m and 12700 feet.  The alpine in this area was a bit more hammered than I had hoped - predominantly windboard with some softer turns mixed in.  I found ski and boot crampons to be useful at times.  If you're ok with some variable snow, conditions are favorable for adventuring in the alpine.

Weather

Air Temp
35
Cloud Cover
few
Recent Snowfall
None
Snow Avail For Transport
small smounts

Another beautiful day. Mostly clear, above freezing but cold in the shade, and light winds.

Snowpack

  • Solars and lower elevations are developing melt/freeze affect, but I observed no loose wet even when trying to push snow around in the afternoon
  • Below 11000 feet, protected recrystalized powder still exists on NW N and E.  Near-surface faceting is obvious to the naked eye.
  • Above 11000 feet, snow that has not been affected by strong winds is hard to find.  Turns varied from one to the next.