Quick report
- Aspect
- Northeast
- Red Flags
- Poor Snowpack Structure
- Elevation
- 3048 m
Between 10,300' and 9,900' on the north-facing side of the LCC/BCC ridgeline, I saw HS vary from 80-150cm. The CERC was around 50cm deep in many places. The thickness of the crust varied significantly. Steeper slopes appeared to have a thinner crust than lower-angle slopes.
A note of concern today was the travel protocols of parties recreating in the backcountry. Multiple people skining through NE facing (avalanche) starting zones (at the same time) when an easy alternative existed, and multiple parties transitioning (at the same time) in the runouts of converging N-NE facing avalanche paths. It is prudent to follow standard travel protocols to reduce exposure when recreating in avalanche terrain.
Snowpack
- Instability Comment
- <p>High spatial variability in the CERC is concerning. A consistent heavy-loading weather cycle to test the snowpack would be nice. Where I dug today at 10,000 NE showed a not overly concerning snowpack, but it is just one hole. Continued investigation and mapping of the distribution of snowgrains above and below the CERC and around decomposing crusts/graupel from around 12/20 is necessary.</p>
Snow was fairly dense, powder on the north, and with a bit of zipper and/or heat crust on SE-S-W.