Tsaina Valley
Quick report
A few large soft slab and dry loose avalanches were observed along the snowmachine route. They appeared to be over 48 hours old. Probably released during the last storm cycle. No newer avalanches or signs of instability.
Weather
- Air Temp
- 29
- Cloud Cover
- broken
- Wind Loading
- light
- Recent Snowfall
- At 4000 ft - 20cm overnight/60 - 70cm from last weekends storm.
- Snow Avail For Transport
- large amounts
High clouds, Temps just below freezing. LIght Northeast winds in tsaina valley. Winds were moderate and transporting snow through the gap and above the hairpin turn on Thompson Pass.
Snowpack
A 1.5-meter deep pit was dug at 4000 feet. The snowpack was uniform in consistency and lacked obvious weak layers. Upon further investigation, we located the 3/9 and 3/29 buried surface hoar layers. The 3/29 layer was down 95 cm and the 3/9 layer was down 135 cm. Both layers were unreactive with ECT testing. A PST test on the 3/29 layer resulted in PST 30/100 end. Both layers had clean shears, sliding easily on a 32-degree slope.