Quick report
I went for a walk in Bardini Canyon on Table Mountain today to get a look at the persistent slab structure in the southern reaches of the forecast area and to see if things were getting wet on shaded aspects.
- Surface snow stayed locked up today at all elevations except on aspects with direct solar exposure. For the most part, surfaces were hard and supportable.
- Below 8,500', on flat terrain, the entire snowpack was moist or wet and relatively thin (less than 3')
- On steeper north-facing slopes above 9,000', surface crusts 5-10 cm thick dominated over dry snow.
- Lower elevations have seen quite a bit of snow loss over the past couple of warm days, particularly on solar aspects.
- No recent avalanches or signs of instability were noted on my tour today.
Weather
- Air Temp
- 36
- Cloud Cover
- scattered
- Snow Avail For Transport
- small smounts
Warm temperatures prevailed today. Winds were moderate out of the southwest, dropping in speed and becoming mostly calm by midday. Skies were mostly clear this morning with thin clouds moving in by mid-morning.
Snowpack
I dug in a little under 10,000' on a north aspect in an area with the persistant slab structure.
- The structure in this location was pretty straightforward, albeit not incredibly confidence-inspiring.
- It is worth noting I did not observe any signs of instability along my tour today despite removing my ski and punching my foot into the snow in areas with the confirmed structure.
- Ski pen = 5 cm, Boot Pen = 30 cm
- ECTP 24 failing on depth hoar
- See profile for more details