Elephants Back-Carson Pass Area

We toured from Carson Pass today to look at snow coverage and monitor the faceting process in our shallow snowpack.  Around 1-1.5 feet of snow exists on NW-N-NE aspects above 8500' in this area providing limited access for over the snow recreation.  Snow surface conditions range from soft near surface facets to firm crusts with different levels of ski penetration.  Previous NE winds have scoured many wind exposed slopes leaving wind crusts or areas scoured down to dirt, rock, or ice.  The faceting process continues in this area with clear skies, long nights, and cold temperatures on northerly shaded terrain.  The shallow snowpack is made up of mostly faceted snow grains and old rain crusts and has continued to weaken since our last visit to this area on November 16.  Concern continues to exist with our weak snowpack structure and forecasted storm loading events later this week.