Steamboat & Flat Tops

Below treeline the snowpack remains extremely thin and poorly consolidated. Near treeline, in easterly wind-loaded areas, the snowpack is around one meter deep and fairly consistent with the snowpack we're seeing in the Park Range with the upper third of the snowpack a fairly cohesive slab sitting on top of a weak layer of facets. The double-layer rain crust from early December is still present, but is showing signs of moving to facets. Stability tests in this location were fairly unremarkable, failing without propagation about 40cm deep below the surface on an interface between wind slab and underlying facets. The wind slab does appear to be moving to facets, suggesting this weak layer may become progressively less responsive. Above treeline, the snowpack is sparse, with skiing limited to wind-loaded features on eastern aspects. Where there is snow deep enough to ride, the snowpack is disconcerting as it is comprised of a complex series of very solid, thin wind slabs overlying weak facets. Stability tests in this area repeatedly produced failure on isolation around 25cm deep on a layer of facets underlying a solid wind slab.