Quick report
We observed highly variable snow surfaces ranging from scoured to 2' deep wind blown snow in sheltered areas. A fragile rain crust was on the surface in some more exposed areas. There were spindrifts on steeper sections of Duchess, but we did not see much active wind loading given the extreme winds and new snow. Ski penetration was minimal except in sheltered pockets. We discussed how we thought the wind was affecting he snowpack and agreed that with how intense it was, it was likely stiffening existing slabs and scouring slopes more than it was loading at this point. Hillman's Highway and Duchess looked more filled in than we expected after the recent rain event.
Weather
- Air Temp
- N/O
- Cloud Cover
- obscured
- Wind Loading
- previous
- Rain Elevation
- N/O
- Recent Snowfall
- 14cm
- Snow Avail For Transport
- moderate amounts
Extreme winds and low laying clouds obstructed our view of the ridgeline. While moving through some trees on the TRT we observed the ground around a tree moving up and down with the tree as it blew in the wind...blustery out there.
Snowpack
We found a very variable snowpack. In more sheltered pockets of the historic runout, we observed up to 2' of fairly uniform new snow (4F with a windskin) above the 12/30 rain crust. In more exposed areas of the historic runout and around our high point of 4100', there was closer to 4-5cm of new snow on the rain crust. These thinner spots were also capped with a thinner and fragile crust on the surface. We figured this had formed during a window of freezing fog or sleet during the recent snow.