Quick report
- Aspect
- North
- Red Flags
- Wind Loading, Cracking
- Elevation
- 2957 m
A cold front moved in from the SW around noon today, but sadly only produced flat light and no snow. Snow surfaces were variable ranging from surface hoar on sheltered slopes to stiff pockets of wind-drifted snow on high elevation NW through E aspects. The spatial variability on the PC Ridgeline is very apparent right now with even the slightest aspect, slope angle, and elevation change, making finding supportable skiing somewhat tricky. The best, most supportable skiing was found on lower-angle sun and wind-protected slopes. We noted a radiation recrystallization crust right below a layer of surface hoar on a westerly slope at 9700'.
Photo 1: localized cracking on a wind-loaded slope
Photo 2: RR above the crust
Snowpack
- Instability Comment
- <p>The shift in wind intensity yesterday definitely affected skiing quality today. While traveling to dig on a wind loaded slope, we noted localized cracking about 10cm deep. We dug a pit on this same slope and did not produce any propagating test results. The faceted grains in the bottom 15cm of the snowpack are moist and rounding.</p>