Quick report
- Aspect
- Northeast
- Red Flags
- Poor Snowpack Structure
- Elevation
- 3414 m
- Slope Angle
- 28°
- Red Flags Comment
- <p>Snow pack is almost entirely taken over by facets in sheltered, mid elevation areas. Upper mid elevation, northerly aspects contain a variety of layers including buried surface hoar, consolidated snow, and crust/facet sandwhiches. Depth hoar exists at the ground, but persistent slabs are breaking down. </p>
SST produced clean, moderate shear at upper most buried surface hoar layer. SST also produced clean but stubborn, moderate shear on buried, upper-mid level facet layer. CT produced no results at this layer. CT did produce failure at depth hoar level, C14 Q3.
Photos taken on 1-2-14 illustrate variability in coverage.
Snowpack
- Instability Comment
- <p>Persistent slabs still exist in areas of deeper snow pack, but they are losing their energy, and are being broken down by the faceting process.</p> <p>Loose facet avalanches are more likely as the mid elevation snow pack continues to deteriorate. </p>
The usual mixed bag for these long periods of no snow. Spacial variability best describes the overall snow pack. Some wind and and sun exposed areas show bare ground. Sheltered mid elevations have about 2 feet of faceted snow. Upper elevation snow depths are dependent on aspect, and exposure to wind. High, north facing ridge tops have lost significant amounts of snow due to to northerly winds, but just down slope 100' or so,120 centimeters of snow can be found. General snow depths range from 20"-40".