Quick report
To no one's surprise, I found poor structure near treeline at Tenderfoot. HS100cm at 2,500' on a NNE aspect, the bottom half of the snowpack was depth hoar and I found a 30+cm slab of 1F snow on top. Overtop of all that is a mix of crusts, a very strong ice layer, and new now at the surface. CT22RP @55cm ECTP24 @55cm Both results right below the slab at the top of the depth hoar.
None observed. Limited visibility into the alpine.Weather
- Air Temp
- 23
- Cloud Cover
- overcast
- Wind Loading
- light
- Rain Elevation
- <500
- Recent Snowfall
- 10
- Snow Avail For Transport
- moderate amounts
At the highway, 1,300' at 1:00p Temp: -3C Winds: Calm Sky: Overcast Precip: S-1 At 2,000' at 1:40p Winds: Light from the North Sky: Overcast Precip: S-1 At 2,500' at 2:30p Temp: -5C Winds: Light from the North Sky: Overcast Precip: S1 Critical WX Factor: Not as windy as forecast for this afternoon during my tour.
Snowpack
The bottom half of the snowpack was composed of depth hoar in several stages of advancement, and the midpack was a sturdy slab. Instability test results of CT22RP and ECTP24, both at 55cm right at the top of the depth hoar. Most interesting was the very robust ice layer near the top of the snowpack, which was several cm thick and defied clean cutting with a saw or shovel blade. Instead, it tended to break of into palm sized plates. The new snow on top of the ice layer was on the moist side of dry down at the road, and dried out with elevation. Quite a lot of variability in new snow depth from a few cm up to probably 30cm in wind favored pockets, despite not observing active wind tranport during my tour.