Weather
- Air Temp
- 28
- Cloud Cover
- overcast
- Wind Loading
- previous
- Recent Snowfall
- 15
- Snow Avail For Transport
- small smounts
Winterlike with chilly moderate wind and snow transport above ~5000ft. Below 4000ft it was above freezing and calm. At 1500hrs the clouds lowered to a height of about 2500ft.
Snowpack
About 6" of snow from 12/22 is sitting over a variety of hard crusts and moist snow layers, all the way to the ground. Total snowpack in drifted areas at 5500' were 150cm but around 100cm was more representative. The 12/22 layer was wind affected, forming 1F drifts up to a foot deep on small slopes. There was a small amount of cracking noted in the wind-affected snow from our footsteps. The underlying crust was supportable, making walking our preferred method of transport over using snowshoes. Aside from the more wind-loaded slopes, no instabilities found.
The old snow layer was not present under the new snow on the southwest facing slopes we ascended until about 4500ft. A consistent 6" of new snow was present above about 4000'. It was very patchy below that elevation, down to about 2500'.