Quick report
- Cracking
- widespread
Plenty of new snow and cold temperatures at the parking lot. We found boot top ski penetration while ascending until around 5000' when it increased to closer to mid-calf. The upper snowpack felt upside down, however, with new storm snow sitting on top of a graupel layer (as previously noted). Skin tracks would blow out more easily for the person in the back as a result. Skiing was enjoyable, with bouncy turns, but not 'blower' powder yet. A lot of hype around this storm but was surprising to not see anyone else out this morning. As previously noted, I apologize for the poor skin track at the start of the Phantom. Shucks. Got consistent cracking of ~5-7" of new snow on top of a graupel layer on kick turns. Surprisingly, though, we did not get any movement of snow on some small convex roll-overs while skiing down. We avoided large, unsupported features and open slopes with hanging snow. Saw one natural on a convex roll while ascending but aside from that little to no avalanche activity noted while on our tour.
Weather
- Cloud Cover
- overcast
- Wind Loading
- none
- Recent Snowfall
- 30
- Snow Avail For Transport
- moderate amounts
Calm, overcast, and cold. Did not observe wind affect while on our tour.
Snowpack
As of 11AM PST there was approximately 5" of new, heavier snow sitting on top of a layer of graupel (presumably from the intense snowfall last night around 1700, but that's just a guess). The snowpack felt quite upside-down when ascending and descending. Your skis would plunge through the new snow (~5-8" depending on where) and sit in the graupel layer.