Quick report
Toured up Eaglecrest to High East and dug a pit on a southerly aspect. The snow surface showed clear solar effects and was wet, though not overly manky on the ascent. The snowpit results were largely unremarkable. Temperature profiles indicated an isothermal snowpack. A melt-freeze crust was observed approximately 100 cm down, which was only reactive during shovel shear tests; no other notable results were observed in stability tests. The snowpack is wet and slushy, with large melt forms present near the ground. Human-triggered avalanches, aside from wet loose, are unlikely, but a cornice fall could potentially trigger a deeper avalanche, possibly failing on the melt-freeze crust. Observed old crown lines in Wedding Bowl, as well as glide cracks along the TSA ridgeline and on Troy. On the descent, snow remained slushy but not as sticky as I was afraid of. Wet loose activity on steep terrain did not run as far as expected. Overall, good riding conditions.
Wet loose debris on steep terrain.Weather
- Air Temp
- 50
- Cloud Cover
- few
- Wind Loading
- none
- Recent Snowfall
- 0
- Snow Avail For Transport
- none
Dense fog burned off around 10 a.m. when I started touring. Scattered clouds and very light (to nonexistent) northerly winds made for a hot afternoon.
Snowpack
Dug a pit on a southerly aspect. The most notable density change was at an old melt-freeze crust approximately 100 cm down, possibly the 3/6 crust. ECTX and CTN results, but in both cases the column failed very easily with sudden planar shears on that melt-freeze crust (~100 cm). STV was also observed around 100 cm down. Temperature profile indicated an isothermal snowpack, which was saturated, and wet, to the ground.