Quick report
- Red Flags
- Heavy Snowfall, Wind Loading
- Red Flags Comment
- <p>Obviously there has been a lot of new weight added to the snowpack in the last 10 days, and especially the last 5, and we were in conservative terrain, but we saw no cracking, no collapsing, no sluffs, nothing...it was really glued on. Although we walked along the ridge past big cornices on West and South Monitor bowls, visibility was nil, so if there was natural activity, we couldn't see it.</p>
Snowpack
Down in the trees the snow was creamy powder on a supportable base with the 4-5" snowfall from Monday afternoon supplying the new snow and everything that happened before that providing a very solid base. I was surprised that there was not more evidence of a rain crust below 9k, but whatever rain that fell Sunday was incorporated into the very dense and consolidated pack. Above the trees in the wind exposed terrain, the snow was very dense wind buff...very easy skiing as you didn't sink into the soft but firm surface hardly at all. I kept looking around for where the snowcat was hidden, the snow was so uniform. It all meant you could have very good skiing on low angle terrain.