Quick report
- Cracking
- Observed
- Collapsing
- Observed
I experienced widespread cracking and collapsing at valley bottom and on S and SW facing slopes and lower and middle elevations. Frequency of collapsing decreased up higher in windier terrain where the slab over 1/31 was either scoured away or much thicker and denser. It looked like the Smokys and Sawtooths stayed socked in throughout the day. I'm anticipating a widespread surficial shedding event on Saturday if there is a good, extended dose of direct sunshine (fx looks a bit cloudy, but hard to say without digging deeper). If not, we can hold onto our great skiing and riding on solar slopes. This weekend is a likely time for an accident. The skiing and riding are fantastic, the snowpack complexity has increased significantly since last weekend, and the slab over the 1/31 weak layer has not had enough time to relax into a stable conformation. In many places the snowpack is providing decreasing frequency of feedback (cracking and collapsing) due to the thickness of the overlying slab, but it remains within the realm of human triggering. It will be hard to dial back one's ambitions, start with a conservative plan and stick to it my friends! I experienced about 25 large, booming collapses on the valley bottom and S and SW slopes at lower and middle elevations, with visible cracking on the surface of the snowpack. Some slopes collapsed multiple times. As I climbed into more wind-affected terrain the frequency of collapsing decreased.
Weather
Skies clearing towards sunset in White Clouds, though there was an after-dark S3 flurry that deposited an additional few cms of snow. Winds had become light by days end. 25-30 cm of new snow in past 24 hours.
Snowpack
25-30 cm of fresh snow overnight and in the morning, then a denser interval of snow from late in the AR storms, then a still unconsolidated interval of softer, less dense storm snow, and a denser interval at the base of the AR storms (on top of the 1/31 interface).