Snowpack
- Instability Comment
- <p>In the photo below you are able to see the failure plane, or slab and weak layer combo we are most concerned about. November snow that sat on the surface and went rotten is extra weak and now preserved underneath our most recent storm snow that lies 6-12" (15-30cm) beneath the surface on slopes with a northerly touch at mid and upper elevations. This set-up seems most reactive in wind-exposed and wind-resistant terrain compared to more sheltered and protected areas. </p> <p> </p> <p>Although we have a ton of weak snow near the ground and throughout the pack places where this structure exists are the same areas where we have seen our most recent avalanches fail. It is something I am keeping a tight fix on heading into the weekend and holiday with some weather coming in. </p>
Snow was cold and travel was mostly good-to-go on packed roads and mellow off-piste meadows but still very thin underneath the surface. Trenching the track was a no-go, and felt best to keep it on all fours and not get 'er up on edge.
On the polars the pack was supportable in some places, but mostly rotten and unsupportable in areas where soft snow was protected, and resistant to the wind. On the sunnies it was a mixed bag of bare ground and crusts, that did not promote much travel or riding. Best quality turning continues to be on mellow slopes where you aren't trenching or feeling the bottom fall out.