Quick report
Trevor and I toured into the Snow Lake Divide area to take a closer look at the 2/13 and 2/7 interfaces. Temperatures felt slightly warmer than in recent days, and the new snow was noticeably denser than the snow beneath it. We found 12–13 inches of heavier snow from the past two days sitting on top of roughly 12 inches of lower-density snow from last week.
This recent 2 feet of accumulation has significantly improved coverage around the Alpental Valley, particularly along the exit track. In snowpit tests, we continued to see lingering instability at the interface between the new and old snow, about 12–13 inches below the surface. The 2/7 layer still showed persistent weakness and propagation potential, though it was difficult to initiate in extended column tests.
We did not observe any avalanche activity during our tour.
Weather
- Air Temp
- 30-33
- Cloud Cover
- obscured
- Wind Loading
- none
- Rain Elevation
- 3000
- Recent Snowfall
- 3-5
- Snow Avail For Transport
- small smounts
Tuesday was generally warmer and wetter compared to Monday. Low clouds hung around the valley, limiting visibility above 4,000 feet. Light, dense snowfall trickled off and on throughout the morning. Calm to light wind blew out of the SSW.
Snowpack
Two pits were dug at around 4,500' on the Snow Lake Divide on a northerly aspect. Snow depth in this area was 80-100 inches, with the top 12 inches recent snow since 2/21, and the top 2 inches even denser snow from the past 12 hours.
Compression tests showed slight instability on the new snow interface (down 12-13 inches). A Propagation Saw Test (PST) was conducted on the 2/7 interface, which showed unstable column fracture twice in a row. The 2/7 interface still consists of weak, rotting snow below a friable crust.
The 2/13 surface hoar was easily identifiable, though the grains looked more rounded than on previous days. A Deep Tap Test also resulted in sudden collapse with moderate difficulty on the 2/13 interface.
No propagation occurred in all extended column tests.