June Backcountry

My goals today were to see how deep the 2/10 interface is in the June area and monitor conditions during today's storm. I found 2/10 generally around 100-130cm deep in places less wind-affected. I was unable to initiate failure on this weak layer due to its depth, but the generally poor structure on northerly terrain was still noteworthy.

Today's short-lived, intense storm didn't change much in our snowpack except for covering up yesterday's winded surfaces. While travelling, ski penetration is variable, but the surface appears largely unchanged. The fresh coat of snow makes it hard to tell whether the next turn will be in bottomless storm snow or on a supportable wind-drifted slab. Currently, identifying wind-loaded terrain would be very difficult.

I found cracking in both today's new snow and yesterday's wind-drifted snow on steep northerly features at low elevations.

Our snowpack has doubled in depth over the last 9 days, and the moderate to strong winds accompanying stormy weather have built some massive drifts. In comparison to the nearby easterly terrain I travelled on yesterday, I found more firm, supportable wind-drifted slabs capping decomposing fragments. Today's extra few inches have helped visually hide the winded surfaces, but noticeable changes in ski penetration indicate where deposition has been favored. 

I dug a hole on a north-facing aspect around 9250 and found the 2/10 interface down 100cm. Some notes I made:

• Snowfall from the 2/10-2/12 storm as well as the recent snow since 2/16 make up the overlying slab.
• Immediately beneath this 1m-thick slab, a melt-freeze crust from sustained warm temperatures around 1/21-1/23 caps weak, 2mm facets. At higher elevations, this crust is absent.
• I did not initiate any failure on the weak facets, as the weak layer was too deep where I dug. ECTX
• The structure is poor, and tracking variations in the thickness of the overlying slab is hard with a few inches of fresh capping everything.