Quick report
- Red Flags
- Poor Snowpack Structure
- Red Flags Comment
- <p>Poor snowpack structure remains. However, the slab continues to weaken and facet. Some pits show the basal facets gaining some hardness. In recent pits, the slab falls apart when trying to pull the column out after stability tests, a sign that it is losing cohesion. Many slopes NTL and BTL are becoming faceted top to bottom, and boot pen is to the ground. Slopes that have seen some wind drifting have more body to the snowpack and overall greater HS. </p>
Snowpack
- Instability Comment
- <p>I got ECTX in both pits today. It has been a long time since we have seen results in our pits. My trip to the alpine confirms that human-triggered avalanches are becoming increasingly unlikely. I probed between 65-90 cm of snow as I traveled up the lower aprons of Middle Cirque. My pit from the aprons consists of mostly faceted layers with a couple of wind crusts mixed in. </p> <p> </p> <p>Faceted crystals make up the base of the pack.</p> <p> </p> <p>The pit below is from the bowl at the top of the "Middle Cique Glades" As I traveled up the Glades, the height of snow averaged 60cm, and was weak and faceted. The open bowl at the top had seen some previous wind loading. It seemed like a good analog for the alpine terrain above it. </p> <p> </p>
In the trees and valley bottoms, the snow is mostly faceted loose. The long dry spell continues to weaken the snow surface, and in many places, the entire snowpack. Alpine terrain was mostly wind crust, with the occasional soft turn in shallow, wind-broken particles.
Mid-Elevation glades are showing signs of the recent wind event and a lack of new snow. Notice all the debris on the snow surface.
Solar aspects have been worked by three weeks of sunshine and recent strong Southerly winds.
The snow surface in much of the alpine is a scoured mess