Quick report
We remained in a sheltered area with no signs of wind loading and minimal avalanche terrain. We didn't see any avalanches and didn't find an unstable snowpack. Riding the approximately 2ft of powder was great after the sub-par conditions we've been seeing this year, although we remained extremely vigilant of sneaky creek holes and thinly buried rocks, trees and stumps.
Weather
- Cloud Cover
- overcast
- Wind Loading
- none
- Rain Elevation
- 2500
- Recent Snowfall
- 50
- Snow Avail For Transport
- large amounts
Overcast with slight cloud breaks in the afternoon. Calm, with no sign of wind loading in the sheltered area we traveled.
Snowpack
Above ~4500ft approximately 2ft of low density, right-side up and non wind-affected powder was present over old crust layers. The new snow layer started Friday (1/5) afternoon.
A thin pencil-hard crust from 1/4 warm temperatures was present under the new snow layer. I searched for facets and surface hoar beneath that, in the thin layer separating this upper crust from the hard, crusty layers that the rest of the underlying snowpack consists of. I only found sparse old large surface hoar grains mixed in with the bottom of the thin crust. I didn't get any test results on that layer. ECT's only produced several subtle mid-storm failures beneath the shovel, and no propagating results.
At 4000ft there was only just over a foot of new snow on bare ground. Snowline started at about 2000ft.