Quick report
- Red Flags
- Cracking, Collapsing, Poor Snowpack Structure
- Red Flags Comment
- <p>We had significant cracking and collapsing. The snowpack would collapse every 100-200 M on all aspects.</p> <p>Below the crusts most of the snowpack was a mess of facets ranging from 1-2mm some crusts mixed in. </p>
We traveled around Mt Watson today to get a sense of what the snow was doing on various aspects. Overall, the snow is very thin on all aspects ranging from 50-75cm. The snowpack on all aspects was almost completely faceted and very weak.
- Photo1 was an east aspect. We had a CT2 compression test result failing on facets just above the suncrust on 1mm facets
- Photo 2 was a southwest aspect. When we went to isolate our ECT, we had failure and propagation (ECTPV) on facets below a sun crust.
- Video: southwest aspect from Photo 2 and a north aspect at 10,500'
Snowpack
- Instability Comment
- <p>The mess of facets is the largest concern we saw today. We only traveled through relatively flat areas. Based on the poor snowpack and the cracking and collapsing we encountered, we did not feel it was safe to travel onto any slopes.</p> <p> </p> <p>Assuming this storm doesn't amount to much new snow, I don't think the danger will increase much. If the storm over-delivers, the danger could rise.</p>
A variety of snow surfaces exist out there. In the sheltered areas, there is still soft snow. In wind-affected areas, the snow ranged from a breakable wind slab to a very dense, unpenetratable wind slab.