Sterling Silver

Today was a bluebird, calm day at Sterling! We saw one size 1 wind slab on a lee feature in the alpine from 1 or 2 days ago, and no other avalanche activity even though we saw a large amount of terrain! We had some uncertainty regarding buried weak layers so we started in simple low angle slopes and avoided steep, convex rollovers or obviously wind loaded features. We found a layer of buried surface hoar (feathered weak snow crystals) 20cm deep in the snowpack. We were able to produce easy Compression Test results on this layer, but no propagating Extended Column Test results. There is no significant overlying slab right now, but this layer is one to watch as it is producing avalanches in other parts of the region. We also found the Feb rain crust 45cm deep, with some facets on top of it. This weak layer produced moderate Compression Test results, but no propagating Extended Column Test results. There is a thick melt-freeze crust on the surface extending as high as 1200m.