Crystal Mountain

The sharp upswing in temperatures was easy to notice today. Trees and rocks were dripping and shedding. We were shedding layers as we traveled. And the snow quality had changed from nice cold powder to moist "hot pow". This transition happened throughout the day, with the snow becoming increasingly heavier for each lap.  

Every turn or tree bomb witnessed resulted in a pile of rollerballs and pinwheels. On unsupported slopes and areas with previous wind-loading, we were still able to get heavy blocks of snow to fail with our tests, although this became more difficult as the day wore on. The snow was clumping on our skins, making for some heavy trailbreaking.

Widespread avalanche debris was spotted in the surrounding terrain - Mount Rainier National Park, Crystal Lakes, Morse Creek, among others. Most of these appeared to be loose/shedding. At the base of cliffs, I noticed several shallow wind slabs that had been triggered by snow shedding off rocks and trees, possibly in some cases cornices. I also spotted a very large avalanche near Cowlitz Chimneys over in the park. Looks to be a D3 - widely propagating and quite deep.

The snowpack is getting moist from the top down as we warm and introduce rain. While the wetting front wasn't overly deep, it appears to have reached the 1/16 interface.

Compression tests failed at the 1/16 (CT12) but didn't have impressive character. The Solstice Crust also produced a sudden collapse failure during a compression test, but it was outside the standard bounds (CT31 SC).

Extended column tests did not produce results. However, when I tugged on the ECT block with my shovel, the entire block came off clean at the Solstice Crust.

The snowpack was much thinner in this location than in others I have dug in recent weeks. The Solstice Crust is just barely within a meter of the surface (82cm down).