Quick report
We set out to cover some ground in the Northern Swan Range:
- Last weekend's snow is behaving: no dry or wet sluffs during our tour
- Moderate SW winds caused light blowing snow along upper elevation ridges and isolated terrain features
- We came across one thin, hard slab (1F) in a particularly windy constriction
- Baby cornices were growing, several tiny tips broke and slid downhill with little consequence
- We met many people during our travel that were enjoying the sun and snow
We were comfortable skiing slopes steeper than 38 degrees. We navigated around convexities and terrain traps and skied one at a time in steep terrain.
Weather
- Air Temp
- Below freezing
- Cloud Cover
- scattered
- Wind Loading
- light
- Recent Snowfall
- 0
- Snow Avail For Transport
- small smounts
Increasing cloud cover and wind throughout the day. Winds were moderate from the SW above 7000' on isolated terrain features.
Snowpack
From a smattering of hand pits on shaded aspects 6000-7200 feet:
- 12/22 crust 6 inches deep and friable.
- 12/7 crust 12 inches deep and 4F hard.
Sunny slopes were just barely moist around 1200 hrs before clouds moved in. Sheltered slopes had widespread small (2mm) surface hoar and facets.