Quick report
We toured out to Tenderfoot in the afternoon to take advantage of some calmer weather between storm cycles. On our tour we were looking for how much new snow has fallen in the area and check on the status of buried crusts and facets in the Summit Lake zone ahead of an incoming storm. We found 1-1.5 feet of new soft dry snow above 2000' and a snowpack with poor structure and slowly healing weak layers. At our high point of 3100' we found a crust/facet wombo combo buried 1.5ft deep and did not get concerning stability test results at this location.
Weather
- Cloud Cover
- scattered
- Wind Loading
- moderate
- Recent Snowfall
- 3-5
- Snow Avail For Transport
- moderate amounts
Enjoyed mostly sunny skies and pleseant temps throughout the afternoon. Winds at and below treeline were calm, at ridgetop we experienced moderate winds and observed agressive snow transport on surrounding ridges.
Snowpack
Below 2000' we observed 2-4" of soft snow above a stout crust with a thin breakable crust within the fresh snow. At 2000' and above we were elated to find the thin crust to be gone and 8-12" of fresh soft snow taking its place on top of a thick melt-freeze crust. At ridgeline and in exposed areas above treeline we found wind affected surfaces including sastrugi, exposed crust, and thin coverage in some spots.
In a pit dug at 3100' we found 10" of soft snow above a mix of melt-freeze crusts and factets, all above 2" of sticky rounding facets. We did not find any concerning results in our pit, but did note a snowpack with poor structure. Good news is the facets at this location are rounding and on the long path of healing. (ECTN28 35cm down below a crust on facets)