Divide and Hyalite Basin

Toured up to Divide Basin with no specific objective in mind. The basin was obstructed from wind gusts but there appeared to be wind affected snow closer to the ridgeline. Weather was quite sunny and warm (35/36F) for most of the morning but then turned to overcast in the afternoon while still staying warm. Sunday's strong wind gusts were obstructed within the basin. Roller balls and widespread whomping were observed consistently towards the end of the approach. The basin's new snow had appeared to be quite sun affected. First pit was dug in Divide basin at 9,175' on a SE, 32 degree face, at 1:36pm. This face had been getting hit by the sun for most of the day. We observed an ECTN29 on the February surface hoar at around 26" deep. No propagation was observed but we did hear whomping near our test site which may have affected our results. Once pulled off, this weak layer was extremely wet and if slid, may have appeared in the form of a wet slab. Toured over to Hyalite basin in the afternoon on a face that was obstructed by the sun for the day. This pit was dug at 9,125', on a W/SW, 31 degree face, at 3:30pm. We observed an ECTN19 on the Storm Slab at about 11" deep. We skied the glades below the treeline back into the main approach trail. However, skiing around the steeper section below the lake we experienced significant shooting cracks which we cautiously skied around. While propagation was not observed in our tests, due to significant signs of instability like whomping, roller balls, shooting cracks, and sun/wind affected snow, we determined the snowpack to be quite unstable.

Quick report