Quick report
- Aspect
- Northwest
- Red Flags
- Wind Loading, Poor Snowpack Structure
- Elevation
- 2835 m
- Slope Angle
- 15°
- Red Flags Comment
- <p>We did not experience any collapsing today but did get two substantial whoomps in the same area on Sunday. OBVIOUS RED FLAGS ARE BECOMING LESS "IN YOUR FACE". The biggest one is the poor snowpack structure with all the VERY loose faceted snow at the base of the snowpack. In other words, you may not see any obvious signs of instability unless you dig down and look at the faceted basal layers. Stepping off your machine or skis and punching through to the ground is also a huge red flag right now.</p>
I have had more Extended Column Tests fail on isolation (as I finish cutting out the block) this season than I can remember in previous seasons.
Snowpack
- Instability Comment
- <p>Weak faceted snow at the base of the snowpack remains our biggest concern. This weak snow is everywhere and will continue to cause problems for some time to come. Faceted snow is notoriously slow to "heal" or gain strength. In the long run, the recent storm snow and the next few storms will help strengthen these basal weak layers but they are so advanced that I'm not sure I will ever consider the snowpack completely stable this season.</p>
About 20 inches of new snow since Friday, Feb 12. The weekend storm started out with very dense snow and ended with cold dry powder. Riding conditions are excellent. Unfortunately, avalanche conditions are so dangerous that we felt we needed to avoid any steep slope and were very conscience about not getting underneath any steep slope of any sort that could potentially slide on us from above.