Mammoth backcountry, sucker trees

We utilized the lifts at Mammoth Mountain to access the backcountry today. We had two primary goals. The first was to continue to survey the current snowpack prior to a potential loading event later this week and the second to see what effects our recent warm temperatures have had on the snowpack.

• Increasing winds throughout the day led to some snow movement near and above the treeline however, there simply is not much snow available for transport on more leeward slopes. No concerning slab development was observed.
• We traveled on several aspects today near treeline and found that SW-S-SE had 1cm sun crust at the surface. On more shaded northerly aspects surface snow remains dry and largely unconsolidated.
• Surface hoar was observed on the surface near treeline. However, the combination of wind and warm temperatures has largely knocked these feathers down flat.
• Shallow coverage continues to be the largest hazard in the mountains.

We dug in in two locations today between 9,500’ and 10,000’.

• While both pits displayed differences in snowpack depth and structure. In both locations our stability tests highlighted layers of concern and showed potential for propagation. (see pit profiles for more details)
• Both of our pits today showed signs of instability and highlighted a very weak structure and propagation propensity.
• At 9900’ on a NW aspect today we observed depth hoar chains ranging from 6-8mm
• Recent warm temperatures have led to some settlement in the upper snowpack. While this has added some structure and support to the snowpack our observations today continue to point to a general lack of a substantial slab.
• Bottom line advanced faceting in the snowpack has created a particularly weak base, but we will likely need more snow before this particular dragon rears its ugly head.