The Lucas Limbo

Today we skied at Ashman Ridge. We saw several natural avalanches, up to size 2. These avalanches released from the ridgecrest on steep north and east facing slopes. Above 1200 m we found 30 to 60 cm of new snow which sits on top of a layer of buried surface hoar. Our snowpack tests showed that these weak, feathery crystals are reactive to light loads on a variety of different slopes. We didn’t find the surface hoar everywhere, but this is a layer of concern for us that we will continue to investigate. Below 1200 m there is about 10 cm new snow on top of a rain crust. During the day today the sun and mild temperatures affected sunny slopes which now have a thin crust on the surface. It was partly cloudy with calm conditions.