Quick report
We found a generally deep and stable snowpack in this area today. The trace of snowfall this morning and light rains this afternoon did not increase or change the avalanche equation. Old snow that has fallen over the last week has bonded well to any crusts below. The upper 4-6" of the snowpack is a mixture of crusts and soft snow above a stout crust below on shady aspects below 8300'. Solar aspects harbored a supportable spongey crust from a light refreeze overnight.
Weather
- Cloud Cover
- overcast
- Wind Loading
- none
- Rain Elevation
- 8000
- Recent Snowfall
- Trace
- Snow Avail For Transport
- none
Overcast skies and light SW winds. This morning show showers (S-1) brought snow down to 6600', before taking a short break. The next round of moisture presented as a rain-snow mix near 8300', and light rain below about 8000'. Rain and snow showers were intermittent and short-lived.
Snowpack
It only took traveling a few hundred feet off the valley floor before we found soft, lightly refrozen crusts. These crusts were spongey and supportable on all solar slopes we traveled on. The trace of new snow was bonding well to this soft crust, slowly melting into surface crusts throughout the day.
Below about 7500', the upper snowpack of shadier aspects was a mixture of crust and crust facet sandwiches, even on due N. Crust and crust facet combinations were more dramatic and pronounced with any western tilt. Above 7800', surficial crusts disappeared on northerly slopes and remained on NW. We found 15 cm of DF, and PP intermixed with some FCsf in wind-sheltered northern slopes—this snow is bonding well to the 2-3cm thick crust below.
This area harbors a deep and generally stable snowpack, and any immediate concerns should be isolated to the upper snowpack. We did find shallow areas in wind-sheltered terrain on northerly slopes. Here, only about 125-150cm of slab separates, softer, weaker snow near the ground. This doesn't present any concern for dry snow problems or even a pressing concern for incoming warm weather. However, it will be interesting to see if or how this setup performs later in the season with consistently warm temperatures and sunshine.