East of WMR

I utilized the easy access provided by WMR, one of the FAC's operational partners, to observe how the snowpack is responding to the current heat wave.

• Observed wet avalanche activity was small and unimpressive. Slides were noted on various aspects, but all were D1-1.5 in size. Observations included Big Slide, Half Moon slide, Skook Chutes, Looker's Left Skook Face, Werner Peak, and other nearby steep slopes. 
• The lack of wet avalanches is attributable to a warming period from last weekend that worked over the snowpack, along with the minimal fresh snowfall since then.
• The Persistent Slab problem is still obvious in the multiple hand pit tests I performed on various aspects. The buried surface hoar layer responsible for recent avalanche activity is found 4-5" (10-12 cm) beneath the surface. On wind-loaded slopes, this layer is found about twice as deep. 
• On sunny slopes, meltwater has left the top 10-12 cm wet, down to a crust. Shady slopes still harbor mostly dry snow beneath a thin breakable surface crust. 

 

No cracking or collapsing noted today.

On sun-exposed slopes, the top 10-12cm is wet snow resting on a thin layer of surface hoar above a  2 cm pencil-hard crust.

Shady aspects have a 1 cm knife-hard crust capping moist to dry snow. The buried surface hoar layer is around 12-15 cm below the surface.

Multiple hand pit tests revealed easy, clean shears in the surface hoar layer. An ECT on a southeastern slope resulted in ECTN11 due to the slab's soft nature.