Quick report
- Red Flags
- Wind Loading, Rapid Warming
- Red Flags Comment
- <p>The wind slabs have stabilized rapidly but there may be a few more booby traps lurking. The rapid warming is starting to make roller balls on the steep, sun exposed slopes.</p>
Snowpack
- Instability Comment
- <p>The wind slabs have stabilized rapidly but there may be a few more booby traps lurking. I could see lots of evidence of wind slab activity during the storm that was subsequently covered up by more wind drifting. The instabilities are settling out quickly. </p> <p><em>Here on the slopes beneath the Pfeifferhorn in upper Maybird Cirque, you can see lots of wind damage to the snow. Indeed, any wind exposed slope got hit, even at lower elevations. You need to find very wind sheltered slopes, such as in the north facing trees. </em></p> <p><em>You can see the wind slab on the left that was then partially covered up by more wind drifting during the storm.</em></p> <p><em>You can see the wind damage on Red Top and the Tri Chutes at the top of White Pine Canyon.</em></p> <p>There was rapid warming today, combined with low clouds and a bit of green housing, making all the new snow damp and manky. I could see several areas of rollerballs on the steep, sun exposed slopes. There will probably be more of that if it continues to warm.</p>
The wind certainly had its way in all the wind exposed terrain making dense, lurch-and-jerk conditions and wind slabs. Even the east facing Maybird aprons were quite wind damaged and forced us into the trees to find better snow. Even though it was mostly cloudy today, it's that time of year, and the strong sun made it through the low clouds to make most of the snow damp by the end of the day. There's still some soft snow above about 9,000' in the north-facing trees, but everything else is either wind damaged or damp from the occasional sun poking thorugh the low clouds today.