Elephant's Hump

I went to the Hump to have a look at what the rain had done to the snowpack since I was last there on Sunday. The rain had really destroyed the powdery nature of the snow after the storms of last week. But on the positive side, it also looked to have stabilized the snowpack considerably. 

There was evidence of the rain everywhere at Hump. The snow was pockmarked, and it was runnel city. Small, medium, and large runnels. I also saw large and long runnels off of Elephant's Back, which meant the rain level was at least up to 9600 ft. 

Most of the time, even though it was the afternoon, I couldn't release any wet slabs or wet loose on even steeper slopes. On one small rollover, I was able to release a small wet slab, about the size of a medicine ball. It rolled down the hill very slowly and rested 15 ft down the hill, still on a steep slope. 

Descending, the snow was very slow. It felt like I was skinning downhill but unevenly. The snow would slowly, and at uneven small intervals, release the skis. It felt like I was in a slow-motion film. Also, the runnels were challenging. They formed cross slope, elongated moguls. Sometimes they were wide enough to ski down the top of them. But often, I had to cross runnels and take care not to dig my ski tips into the next runnel. 

I dug a pit in the middle of the ascent and did a lot of pushing and pulling at the snow. It was very wet and would not move very much. It is becoming, it has become, serious Sierra cement. 

The recent rain took down the snow -- around 50 cm -- but it also stabilized the snowpack. I dug a pit and saw many layers, but basically, there are four big layers to contend with. The top layer of fist hardness snow compressed easily during the taps. The second layer of 1F snow was locked up. Then the rain crust 48-58 cm below the surface, which was thoroughly wetted. Finally, fist hard snow below, also very wet and easy to make snowballs with. My CT had no failures. I then took both arms and whaled on it 10 more times. Nothing happened. The top layer just seemed to compress and consolidate further. I then tried to yank the block off of the F hard snow 58 cm below the surface. It came off after a very hard yank, fell on its side, and then I couldn't move it any further. 

Most of the time, even though it was the afternoon, I couldn't release any wet slabs or wet loose on even steeper slopes. On one small rollover, I was able to release a small wet slab, about the size of a medicine ball. It rolled down the hill very slowly and rested 15 ft down the hill, still on a steep slope. 

There was evidence of the rain everywhere. The snow was pockmarked, and it was runnel city. Small, medium, and large runnels. I also saw large and long runnels off of Elephant's Back, which meant the rain level was at least up to 9600 ft. 

Descending, the snow was very slow. It felt like I was skinning downhill but unevenly. The snow would slowly, and at uneven small intervals, release the skis. It felt like I was in a slow-motion film.