Quick report
- Aspect
- Northeast
- Red Flags
- Poor Snowpack Structure
- Elevation
- 2987 m
- Slope Angle
- 34°
- Red Flags Comment
- <p>So, we were able to get down in the snow and we made sure to choose a northeast facing aspect so that we would be able to see how that weak layer near the ground is behaving. We found a very weak layer near the ground. </p>
We wanted to do a couple column tests to see how the weak layer near the ground was behaving. During the first test we were able to get it to break on the weak layer on the first swing from the shoulder with a Q2 shear. The second test produced a break on the new snow interface on the 4th strike from the wrist. The weak layer near the ground broke on the third strike from the elbow with a Q2 shear. We didn't get a chance to do a ECT, but we did notice some propagation when we did the shovel test. The weak layer near the ground was about 4" but I foresee it sticking around for a while on the North facing aspects.
We observed 3 layers in the snow pack, the new snow which was fist hardness, a second layer with 4 fingers and the weak sugar layer near the ground. Total snow depth was 85 cm.
Snowpack
- Instability Comment
- <p>In the location we observed, the last storm cycle produced about 18" of snow. We weren't expecting that amount but there was enough snow sitting on the weak layer near the ground to cause some problems. </p>
There was light powder on top of a denser layer that sat on top of the mid-october facets.