Quick report
- Red Flags
- Wind Loading, Poor Snowpack Structure
- Red Flags Comment
- <p>It wasn't outrageous, but there was definitely some snow getting drifted around by the wind in places. If you dig, even with just your hands, you will find a layer of loose facets near the ground.</p>
Regarding the snowpack structure and the snow profile above (taken with the Propagation Labs Snow Scope), there are a few things to note. First, there is a layer of loose faceted near the ground. Second, there are some very strong layers of snow above the facets. The overall stability of the snowpack hinges on those strong layers. They are strong enough right now to keep things stable. I have not been experiencing widespread collapsing and I have not seen any avalanches breaking down into the facets yet. It appears that we will need quite a bit more weight before things get really active. That means we need more layers of snow before things get dangerous. I suppose that if we keep getting small storms and never rapidly overload the snowpack, those buried facets will eventually gain strength and not be a concern. This is mostly wishful thinking.
Bottom line: I will never trust a snowpack that has a layer of loose facets in it. Only after these facets have gained strength and the hand hardness has increased to near 1 finger will I feel comfortable.
Snowpack
- Instability Comment
- <p>I noticed only minor drifting in the areas I was skiing today. That said, when I drove over the Skyline Summit, wind was most definitely transporting snow. Fresh wind drifts and wind slabs would be my main concern if I were traveling on the snow along the highest terrain. The biggest threat would be in areas that have the layer of weak faceted snow near the ground AND a fresh wind drift on top of them.</p>
This was another storm that produced quite dense snow. Not as dense as the previous storm though. This provided very good ski conditions. The sled was fun also but you need to muscle the machine a bit to get it up on edge in the dense snow. There was about 6 inches total new snow in the areas I traveled today. The snowpack is mostly supportable to skis and snowmobiles. When I stepped off my skis or the sled, I wasn't punching all the way through to the ground like I was over the weekend.