Quick report
- Cracking
- isolated
Made it up to the pass midday with a brief window of good visibility. Obvious signs of wind effect were apparent with surfaces appearing scoured, scalloped, and drifted. No natural or human-triggered avalanches were observed, with tracks being evident on west-facing Marmot, Eldo Bench, Microdot Bench, and the lower-angle slopes below Hatch.
At mid elevations, winds were light to moderate, and the good light encouraged a quick ascent up the Powder Pimple to check on conditions. The ascent revealed a uniform 3-5'' of moderately wind-stiffened snow sitting on an older, supportable wind crust. Outside of some isolated cracking close to the ridgeline, no instabilities were observed. The new wind slabs were shallow, soft, and unreactive. While the overall hazard felt lower than anticipated, the winds were really only beginning to ramp up, and I avoided traveling into any broad, wind-loaded terrain.
Encountered some shallow, isolated cracking in the upper snowpack on the ascent.
Weather
- Air Temp
- 5
- Cloud Cover
- obscured
- Wind Loading
- moderate
- Recent Snowfall
- 6
- Snow Avail For Transport
- small smounts
3'' of new snow and strong winds. Clearing midday gave way to a resurgence of low clouds, obscured skies, and increasing winds. Temps remained cold, and winds were strongest along the ridgeline.
Snowpack
About 3'' of new snow had been drifted, transported, and slightly wind stiffened by strong northerly winds at mid and upper elevations. Obvious signs of wind effect included scalloped and eroded surfaces, blowing snow, and smooth pillows along convexities. Saltation and drifting were observed on the ascent, but slabs were only 2-5'' deep and unreactive. Some isolated cracking was observed on cross-loaded features, but these instabilities yielded no energy.