Quick report
Toured up Fresno ridge with a rec level 1 group for snowpack day. We got to a highpoint of 2300' where three groups split up to dig pits on a variety of aspects. Travel conditions were challenging as crusts and ice were widspread underneath the 3-5cm of soft surface snow. Overall we had no results in our stability tests but found two layers of buried surface hoar and facet layers between crusts in the upper 30cm of the snowpack.
Observed no red flags throughout our tourWeather
- Air Temp
- 15
- Cloud Cover
- broken
- Recent Snowfall
- ~5
- Snow Avail For Transport
- moderate amounts
Mostly clear skies at the start of the tour, going to overcast by 3:30pm when we got back to the parking lot. Temps were cool and we felt a slight inversion. Calm winds and no precip while we were out.
Snowpack
Students and instructers dug pits on aspects W, S, SE between 2300'-2200' on the SE ridge of Fresno. The snowpack at this location is shallow and dominated by a mix of melt-forms, crusts, and facets. Snow surfaces were slightly better than expected with 3-5cm of fresh snow on top of hard crusts and ice. In our pits at 2300' we found two layers of buried surface hoar, one ~3cm down and the other ~15cm down under a melt-freeze crust.
Overall we had no pit results, a snowpack laden with weak layers but lack of overlying slab, and engaing travel conditions at and below treeline.