Quick report
- Red Flags
- Poor Snowpack Structure
- Red Flags Comment
- <p>As is often the case on the east side of the north slope, the snow cover is thinner than what you find on the western end of the range. The snow pack here has more developed weak faceted snow both near the ground and in the middle of the snow pack. </p>
Riding up the Mill Creek drainage and through the burn from 2002, the coverage looks ok, but a lot of hidden hazards are still out there. The snow quality is not too bad in areas that are protected from the wind with dense settled powder and a mostly supportable base to ride on.
The snow pack here on the east side has more developed weak faceted snow both near the ground and in the middle of the snow pack. I was able to get a fracture to propagate across this column but there was no energy in the slab above. The weakest snow continues to be around the middle of the snow pack where the saw is in the photo.
Snowpack
- Instability Comment
- <p>Not a real issue today in my travels, although there was light winds from the southwest that was drifting the loose surface snow around. This problem is more likely found along the exposed ridge lines. </p> <p>The snow pack seems mostly stable right now, but places like Mill Creek and other thin snow pack areas would be places where a slide could be tiggered.</p>
Although the snow cover is somewhat thin on the east side, the riding and turning conditions are not too bad. There is dense settled powder in protected areas, but the high exposed terrain is pretty wind hammered.