Steamboat & Flat Tops

Light west winds and temperatures in the mid-to-upper twenties. Broken skies becoming mostly clear by afternoon. No new snow.

Around 8,000-8,600 feet on Buffalo Pass, I found a decently deep snowpack probing around on northwest through north through east aspects, generally around 70-80cm, with some shallower areas on east being closer to 60cm and deeper areas on north closer to 90cm. Most south facing slopes below 8,800 feet that are steep enough to produce avalanches had discontinuous snow coverage or devoid of snow entirely. The top 9-14cm of snow is fist hard, and lies above a weak layer of near surface facets and/or surface hoar. With the lack of quantity and cohesiveness of this newer snow, there is not a slab of concern. In areas exposed to wind where the newer snow was more cohesive, I experienced very minor cracking around my skis, but these were only in isolated spots. In extended column tests on north and east aspects, I saw no propagation on any layers. Snowpits on northwest, north, and east aspects were all fairly similar. I found much of the snowpack to be faceted, particularly on north aspects. They all showed a crust about 25cm from the ground, varying in thickness and how much it had faceted. A snowpit on an east aspect showed a light crust had formed near the surface during a break in our snow events over the weekend.