Ebbetts Pass

There was enough snow today at Ebbetts Pass for mellow off-trail snowmobiling with cautious route-finding. Most previous tracks were doing the same, and I didn't see any evidence of people sled-skiing yet this season.

I dug a snowpit near the entrance to Noble Canyon and found 80cm of snow with moist, rounding facets at the bottom. ECTs did not trigger or propagate on this layer, even when I went beyond the 30 loading steps. However, I went about 1/2 mile away to a colder slope with shallower snow, and got propagating ECT results on hard taps. This 2nd slope was above a meadow where cold air would pool, and the ground cover was grass. My boot penetration was to the ground here, because the facets in the grass were weaker and more developed than at my first site. No other signs of instability were observed today.

Non-avalanche info: HWY 4 is clear from Markleeville to the gate just below Silver Creek Campground. There's not much room at the end of the plowed road to turn around or to park. The road between Silver Creek Campground and Ebbetts Pass had good coverage, with the exception of some exposed pavement in the usual two switchbacks. "The Abyss" along the approach is flat road grade and a non-issue right now.

Shallow snowpack with 2-3ft in deeper areas. Moist facets at the ground, and the crust/facet layer near the surface that exists in other areas was not observed here today. The interface at that height was visible in my snowpit but did not produce unstable CT or ECT results.