Quick report
Two words for today: soggy and stubborn.
Snow surfaces had already been wet for a while by the time I got to them, which meant no icing on skins, phew. Likewise, small amounts of avalanche activity- meaning rollerballs- had already run, and there was very few actually wet loose avalanches. I was able to kick off a few new rollerballs, but that was it.
In typical fashion for this year, unexpected openings were present across the landscape, a hazard I needed to pay close attention to while moving faster than a walking pace.
Many natural rollerballs from the last 24hours, only a couple small avalanches.Weather
- Air Temp
- 37
- Cloud Cover
- obscured
- Wind Loading
- previous
- Snow Avail For Transport
- none
Sogggy day with intermittent low level clouds blowing through. Scattered rain showers happened throughout the day. Moderate wind detected along the ridgeline; otherwise calm in sheltered areas.
Snowpack
Snow began at about 3000ft, and at 4500ft there was about 2ft of snow. By 5000ft, there was 6-7ft of snow.
All snow surfaces were soggy, with the top 3-5cm (1-2")of snow saturated. Beneath this layer, snow was moist, but progressively less so, down to the underlying crust complex, about 2 feet beneath the surface.
I dug several pits and did extended column tests, compression tests, and propagation saw tests, and I didn't get results on any layers. I identified a weakness above the crust complex 2ft deep, but the only failures it showed were shears after tests.
Avalanche
Limited to rollerballs from past 24hours.