Quick report
Beautiful weather and decent snow conditions made for a tranquil day of ridding in the Eddy mountains. Except for softening surfaces leading to wet snow instabilities, I was hard-pressed to come across any red flags of avalanche danger. The main finding was a melt freeze crust on the majority of aspects. As the day warmed and the sun shown bright, this surface crust quickly softened and allowed for pleasant travel and ridding. Large cornices were observed looming off ridgelines above northerly facing slopes. Wet-loose debris from days prior was evident on southerly aspects beneath large and small rock outcroppings.
Weather
- Air Temp
- 34
- Cloud Cover
- clear
- Wind Loading
- none
- Recent Snowfall
- 0
- Snow Avail For Transport
- moderate amounts
A clear blue sky hung above rolling white mountains, allowing for visible horizons as far as the eye could see. The sun shown heavy and bright, causing the temperature to rise to 45 degrees by mid-day. A calm to light wind blew out of the west.
Snowpack
The snowpack in the Eddy mountains has settled out tremendously and has become very homogenized. A rightside-up structure consisting of soft snow near the surface that progressively gets denser with depth was discovered. There is a well established surface crust on most aspects and is most pronounced on solar lit slopes. Warm temperatures and strong solar input quickly softened this crust by mid-day. The continued softening lead to pinwheels and roller balls on steep southerly slopes near and below treeline. Northerly aspects that experience a minor amount of solar input or variable tree cover, have formed a slight zipper crust that is barely discernible. Protected true north aspects held well-preserved powder snow.