Quick report
- Red Flags
- Poor Snowpack Structure
- Red Flags Comment
- <p>Was first tour of the season for my partner Mark Johnston: When he dug a pit on north aspect below Pioneer Ridge, all he could say when seeing the incredibly weak snow was "wow". Enough said.</p>
Hazard Monday seems to be entirely dependent upon new snow and/or wind. Biggest question is how much of a load can the Thanksgiving crust support? What I was seeing in Brighton backcountry both Saturday and Sunday is widespread crust on all aspects to 10,300'. This crust varies in thickness, so some slopes may support greater loads, while others may fail more easily, especially those that are wind-loaded. Overall I am feeling this crust may be able to support some loading before it fails, and not sure if forecasted water amounts (< 1") are enough to tip the scales widespread. Wind loaded slopes may be a different story.
Just a video of the wind blowing - it sure felt wonderful to be in the mountains with active weather!
Snowpack
- Instability Comment
- <p>Like what others have noted, weakest snow seems to be just below Thanksgiving crusts. (Although not to imply there is *any* strong snow to be found below this crust; this just seems to be the weakest of the weak.) Assuming we add more of a load on top, will call the trend increasing.</p> <p>The few small pockets of wind drifts we found today may be more widespread by Monday with additional snow and wind. Any drifts will be bonded poorly to the old snow surface.</p>
Left at 5 pm, and am being generous with the 2" (but hey, 2" is a pretty big deal this season!). Winds were creating small pockets of fresh drifts, but they were < 10 cms (4"). Difficult to determine bonding of new snow with so little new snow, but widespread crust on the existing snow surface was frozen , and storm precip came in cold. From what I was seeing, poor bond. The few mm's of faceted snow sitting on top of the crust had blown away with the pre-frontal winds. Was not seeing evidence of a possible dust layer.