Quick report
Today was a transition day with rain wetting a previously dry snowpack. Travel conditions were challenging, sticky and heavy. Widespread naturals told us everything we needed to know to avoid steeps.
Could initiate heavy wet loose slides with moderate force on small test slopes. Compression tests also failed easily at the bottom of the wet snow/moist snow interface which was down 25cm where we dug.Weather
- Cloud Cover
- obscured
- Snow Avail For Transport
- none
Warm and wet. Intermittent rain showers during the day. Steamy during the breaks with multi level clouds and the sun trying to poke through.
Snowpack
We found 45-55cm new snow since 12/9 that was wet on the surface, and ranged between moist and dry in the middle. In total there was about 70cm over the AR crust, which was refrozen melt freeze grains near the top, but in many places this layer was still unfrozen and weaker beneath the crust.
Drainage patterns became more established during the day. Water was pooling on various interstorm layers, and the AR crust while we dug a profile on an ESE aspect at 4,900ft after noon.
Compression tests would fail easily on an interstorm layer down 25cm.
Avalanche
- Size
- D2 R2
- Type
- WS
- Count
- 2
- Aspect
- SE
- Trigger
- N
- Elevation
- 5300 ft
Widespread cycle of storm/wet slabs and wet loose slides. Many D1.5's, a couple notable D2's with impressive propagation.