Quick report
- Red Flags
- Wind Loading, Cracking, Collapsing, Poor Snowpack Structure
- Red Flags Comment
- <p>Three small to moderate (not localized to skis) collapses into underlying basal facets>depth hoar, all on northerly recently wind loaded terrain above 8800'. Plenty of cracking 40' above us in the increasingly hard slabs in representative terrain. It was noted that no cracking/collapsing had occurred since Tuesday of this week. Clearly the wind loading is "the new load."</p>
Wind drifting below - smooth, rounded in the lee of the ridgeline; other eroded snow either sublimated or deposited well down the slope in various patterns and whales.
Note - in the video - the clear eroding from the easterly facing terrain...
Collapse with crack jetting out of the snowpit to viewer's right. This at 8800' northerly wind loaded terrain.
Beautiful etching with the winds
Snowpack
- Instability Comment
- <p>We found weak faceted basal snow on northerly facing terrain (estimated at 330* NW > 30 N) down to 8500'. That is, the structure existed down to that low elevation, though the hazard more along the lines of 8800' and higher. </p> <p>Extended column tests still elicited full propagation with a moderate number of taps (17-22) - </p> <p>Photo - Brian Pollick pointing down to the weak faceted snow 16" down.</p> <p>Soft and hard slabs abound. </p> <p>Remember, when you're walking <strong><em>on</em></strong> the snow, it's a hard slab, when you're walking <strong><em>in</em></strong> the snow, it's a soft slab. Hard slabs have a tendency to break well above you and may be unresponsive to a person until they're on the edges of the tapering lenses of snow. This is where we were able to initiate collapses in the hard slab that stepped down to the depth hoar. </p> <p>The "avalanches" were 1'-2' deep and perhaps 50' wide....collapsed, cracked, but didn't move. </p>
Well, it wasn't hero snow. Rather, we kept our skins on the entire time, even skinning down James Peak with plenty of traverses and kick turns along the way. Still wouldn't trade it for the world.
Wind damage at nearly all elevations with drifts along and well off the ridgelines. Many easterly areas well scoured.
At 9400' northerly facing James Peak 1.5-2' exists on the ground with the bottom 8" consisting of loose cohesionless grains.