Quick report
Wind transport over the skintrack
Wind-sculpted snow in Toledo Bowl
100cm of storm snow over 10cm of old with a graupel line where they meet
Snowpack
- Instability Comment
- <p>As today's forecast described, the faceted grains near the ground are touchy. Skiing terrain where we were sure that there was no snow before this storm seemed the only way to mitigate this since there was no gliding, much less turning, in low angle terrain today. </p> <p>Though the wind may have calmed for the night, there's no shortage of snow available for transport. Since the drifted snow on Emma ridge was is still mostly unconsolidated, it may not become a significant hazard. </p>
Uphill wallowing through unconsolidated snow that was often thigh-height or more led us to Cardiff Pass where we skied north down to the Eyebrow. Repeated audible collapses, including ones that dropped, let us to return the way we came for more wiggle trench skiing on south aspects. Below the brow, columns repeatedly failed upon isolation in the 1-2mm facets below the temp crust.
Without the underlying facets, snow on the south side was more stable, though gusting wind was drifting the low density snow. We didnt find any fresh drifts that felt "tight", but the Emma Ridge avalanche reported by Brooks B did look like it may have begun with the collapse of a wind slab.