Quick report
It was nice to see a dusting of white on the trees above 4600ft! And above 5300ft, there was even enough new snow for soft, quiet, and dare I say pleasant turns. All that positivity aside, significant travel hazards exist in forested areas and at lower elevations. Breakable crusts, icy surfaces, and thin coverage are the main story. We found no signs of avalanche hazard at the elevations we traveled. The snowpack is still moist with multiple crusts, but we did not identify any layers of concern.
Weather
- Cloud Cover
- overcast
- Rain Elevation
- 4600ft
- Recent Snowfall
- 4-6cm
- Snow Avail For Transport
- small smounts
The weather was mild with overcast skies and no wind, even on ridgelines. Precipitation has shut off overnight, with snow levels fluctuating between 4000 and 4600ft.
Snowpack
Snow Surface Summary:
Snow surfaces are variable with crusts on the surface below 4500ft, breakable crusts between 4500-5300ft, and 4-6cm of soft, dry snow above 5300ft. Below 5300ft the fresh snow already has a new 2cm thick breakable crust on the surface. Surfaces were supportable on skis, but you easily broke through the surface crust while walking around in boots. The average boot penetration was around 20cm. Forested areas hold an unfortunate array of refrozen chunder, with a dusting of snow on top above 4600ft.
Snowpack Summary:
Snowprofile
5150ft
WNW aspect
HS 140cm
4-6cm of new snow rests over a surface crust with moist snow below. The upper snowpack is mostly still moist with layers of crusts, and melt-forms down to the January 28th interface, buried 37cm deep. We found no layers of concern in the upper snowpack.