Quick report
- Red Flags
- Heavy Snowfall, Wind Loading, Poor Snowpack Structure
- Red Flags Comment
- <p>To my surprise today we didn't experience any cracking, collapsing, or instabilities within the new snow. Blocks cut out with ski poles would fall apart, rather than pull out as a cohesive slab. Snow totals aren't alarmingly high, but strong SW winds have been doing a great job of adding snow to N and E facing slopes. </p>
I agree with the high danger today, if the winds stay calm and the snow tapers off, tomorrow could drop to considerable. In other news travel on the Geyser Pass Road is extremely difficult right now with deep drifts all over.
Snowpack
- Instability Comment
- <p>Three straight days of winds averaging 25 - 30 and gusts as high as 60. South and West faces are heavily scoured. We skinned up West facing Julies and it was almost completely scoured. Looking at Julie's, you would have no idea it snowed 16 inches since Sunday. Also, on our last lap through the North Woods, I skied along the side of the Funnel to have a look in there, and the SW faces are completely stripped of snow. You can guess where all that snow is. North and East aspects are freshly loaded and dangerous right now. </p> <p>Way too cold to dig any pits today. We didn't see any natural activity. Visibility was limited, but we did get eyes on Norieaga's, Exxon's, and Coyote. 16 inches since Sunday is a pretty good load on these layers and there's more in the forecast. Over the next few days I would expect buried persistent weak layers to be reactive to stability testing.</p>
It was hard to gauge the depth of the new snow, because the winds have been absolutely nuking throughout the storm. The depth on sheltered, mid elevation slopes was about ten inches including the totals from yesterday. The snow has come in heavy and wind driven. Dense surfy pow that keeps you on top.