Quick report
- Aspect
- North
- Red Flags
- Cracking, Collapsing, Poor Snowpack Structure
- Elevation
- 3018 m
- Slope Angle
- 15°
- Red Flags Comment
- <p>Many collapses on NW-N aspects, poor structure exists on these slopes.</p>
Travel today was along the PC Ridgeline from Guardsmans Gate > Scott's Hill > Antennas > South Monitor on S-W-N-NE aspects. Objective was to see how our poor structure handled the recent load and to observe how the new snow is bonding to the old snow surfaces. Visibility was quite good throughout the day despite intermittent low clouds rolling through, and we did not observe any recent avalanches. New snow seemed to be bonding well to the old snow surfaces. We observed many collapses on NW and N aspects. We dug a pit next to a booming collapse on a North slope at 9900', at the top of Katie's, and got full propagation in the old snow (ECTP-12 51cm beneath the surface).
While the recent load did not seem to tip the scales of our PWL problem, we stayed away from steep W-N-E aspects and found great riding elsewhere. With a dearth of snowfall in the forecast, I'll be paying attention to the upper snowpack in regards to slab development (hardness and connectivity) or weakening snow.
Snowpack
- Instability Comment
- <p>The new snow from yesterday did not seem to tip the scales along the PC Ridgeline, however, poor structure exists on slopes holding old snow.</p> <p>The new snow seemed to be bonding well to the old snow surfaces in the area we traveled.</p>
Consistent 12" of new snow along the Park City Ridgeline. By the afternoon, South aspects were damp from the intermittent sunshine, and I expect a melt-freeze crust on southerly snow surfaces tomorrow morning.