Quick report
- Collapsing
- isolated
The biggest concern is triggering small loose "facet-lanches" in sheltered, northerly facing slopes approaching 38* or greater. Not only would these small avalanches be able to knock you over, but they would grind you through all of the rocks and trees that are barely covered by snow. The snowpack is in low tide with lots of surface hazards poking through or not even covered by snow. The entire 1-2 foot of snow on the shady slopes is filled with facets. It is the kind of snow where the person breaking the trail has it easy because everyone following them struggles to set a track in the quicksand. The south-facing slopes are bare in most locations. I experienced a small collapse on a loaded pillow on the ridgeline.
Weather
- Cloud Cover
- overcast
- Wind Loading
- none
- Snow Avail For Transport
- moderate amounts
Periods of light snow flurries through the morning. The winds were light from the NW.
Snowpack
The height of snow varied from 11 inches (28 cm) at 8700' to 23 inches (60 cm) at 9700' on shady slopes. I dug three hand pits on N-NE facing slopes from 9400-9800'. They all had two melt-freeze crusts—one in the middle of the snowpack and one near the base, with faceted snow between them. The most alarming interface was above the bottom melt-freeze crust, which was sturdy (2-3 mm thick) and held a layer of about 8 inches (20 cm) of heavily faceted snow on a firm surface.
Avalanche
I intentionally stepped on two small pockets (<D1) to see if I could initiate the surface snow. The top foot of snow moved quickly on slopes greater than 38* in a "facet-lanche" traveling about 100'.