Quick report
4" new snow covers a variety of crusts in the Rattlesnake. East winds last week scoured surfaces down to the President's Day crust and laid down sections of very stiff windboard.
You can get an edge into the crust, and the new snow cushioned it some so skiing was decent. The wind board is bulletproof, and the new snow slid on it, making travel challenging. We were constantly slipping on side hills.
The new snow was sluffing readily on the crusts, and entraining snow as it descended. These posed little hazard on planar slopes but accumulated quickly in the chute we skied.
Wind slab had not developed, but wind transport was taking place. With just 4" of low-density snow on crusts, the snow available for transport was limited. We found no signs of instability.
Incoming wind and snow will increase the danger.
Weather
- Air Temp
- 26
- Cloud Cover
- broken
- Wind Loading
- light
- Recent Snowfall
- 4"
- Snow Avail For Transport
- small smounts
Mild temperatures, light to moderate wind. clouds increased in the afternoon, intermittent snowshowers, minimal accumulation