Martis Peak

We made a trip to Martis Peak today, looking at the snowpack in an area between the Sierra Crest and the Carson Range. In the 8,400' to 8,700' elevation range across N and NE aspects we found mostly 8 to 10 inches of weak faceted snow. Small areas of bare ground existed around larger trees, but otherwise, snow cover was continuous. We dug a pit in an open area below treeline at 8,650' on a N aspect. The weak, faceted snow we observed in our snowpit was the same snowpack structure we observed when moving over to the 8,440', NE aspect start zone of a nearby avalanche path. As in other portions of the forecast area, snow cover exists only on northerly aspects or in pockets of deep shade when encountered on other aspects.