Quick report
- Cracking
- isolated
On average, lower Casaval Ridge has received about a foot of snow since February 14th. Drifted locations hold up to two feet. The snowpack was relatively quiet underfoot and in stability tests. Signs of instability were limited to minor cracking on isolated, leeward terrain features near treeline. Graupel layers are widespread throughout the upper snowpack - these layers are worth monitoring with additional loading events this week.
Minor cracking in isolated wind-drifted features near treelineWeather
- Cloud Cover
- overcast
- Wind Loading
- light
- Recent Snowfall
- 30
- Snow Avail For Transport
- small smounts
Sub-freezing temperatures, cloudy skies, and light winds throughout the duration of the tour. Moderate northwest gusts on exposed ridgelines near and above treeline.
Snowpack
Elevation 8,350 feet, west aspect: ECTN23 down 14 inches (35cm) on a graupel layer above a .4 inch (1cm) crust.
Elevation 9,200 feet, southwest aspect: about two feet of recent snow on a wind-drifted feature. Two distinct graupel layers within the recent snow: one down 21 inches (53cm) and one down 26 inches (66cm) at the base of the new snow atop a crust. No propagating ECT results, but difficult to isolate the full block at the base due to the strength of the crust. Deeper in the snowpack, frozen percolation columns were interspersed with faceted snow.