Quick report
Last week's wind event has created a variety of "interesting" features including some impressive sastrugi in areas around Thompson Pass. Windslabs have become very hard and are not reactive to humans or machines traveling across them. Benign weather for the last few days has allowed the snowpack's stability to increase. Unfortunately, travel conditions are less than ideal, and opportunities for good turns are limited in the road corridor until we get more snow.
No recent avalanche activity was observed in the area. Some older avalanches were observed including one that buried the staging area for sled skiers on Loveland.Weather
- Cloud Cover
- scattered
- Wind Loading
- none
- Recent Snowfall
- 5-10 cm from last storm
- Snow Avail For Transport
- small smounts
Winds on Thompson Pass were from the NE. Gusty conditions from the hairpin turn through the gap quickly subsided on the drive North. Winds were light with no snow transport on the route up Loveland.
Snowpack
The upper snowpack consisted of a variety of wind-affected surfaces including hard slabs, sastrugi, eroding crusts, and to a lesser extent, soft slabs. Smoother/softer snow was found in some protected gullies. No reactivity was observed on test slopes or in quick pits.
Avalanche
A D2.5 windslab from last Saturday that released on the South side of Catchers Mitt deposited 5 feet of debris onto the commonly used staging area used for snowmachine skiers. Users of this area should consider the potential avalanche hazard when staging for sled laps.