Quick report
No direct signs of instability on the persistent weak layers, which is a big improvement for this drainage. Saw a few natural rollers and I could trigger big ones on east and west-facing slopes below treeline.
Weather
- Air Temp
- 40s
- Cloud Cover
- few
- Wind Loading
- none
- Snow Avail For Transport
- moderate amounts
Another stellar Sierra day with decreasing clouds and calm winds.
Snowpack
The persistent weak layer in this area, on northeast-facing slopes, was generally between 100 and 120 cm below the surface.
The top 5 inches of snow was getting wet atop soft dry snow underneath on west to south to east-facing slopes near and below treeline. I took surface and -20cm below the surface temps 4 times: the surface everywhere and everytime was at melting point. T-20 was always below freezing. In some cases, well below freezing. The surface had refrozen into a thin, breakable crust as soon as these slopes stopped seeing direct sun.
The upper layer of the snowpack is starting to facet in the most sheltered areas that face north.
I dug a hasty pit in a below treeline area where I got widespread feedback and propagating test results on the persistent slab structure on the 8th. Today, no feedback and no results.
I also dug on the same aspect at treeline and got results that demonstrate the weak layer's ability to propagate a fracture if you can trigger it.
Avalanche
No recent avalanches.