Quick report
- Collapsing
- isolated
Skied from 5300' to 6700', I was surprised to find my tracked UTV was dragging the carriage and pushing a bit of snow the last couple miles up the road. (est.~15" deep). Once touring I found about 7" on top of the solid crust. I'm guessing the rig was breaking through the crust... The snow was deeper the higher I moved, with a foot of new at 6700'. The snow was lighter than Friday's and was just starting to bond to the rain crust. Hand shears and stomping on convexity's showed a poor bond. No whoompfing or collapsing. No real wind evidence, even on the ridgelines. Cornices are just starting to form. The one photo shows the 1/8-1/4" crust. The snow is rotting below that layer already. The only other odd thing in the pack is about 3-4" down into the new snow there is a layer of graupel balls. Given they aren't on a hard surface, they aren't as likely to cause a problem, but are worth watching. The real potential problem is the interface between the crust and the new snow, especially with the storm totals the weather service is talking about this week. Skiing is great, but early season obstacles are prevalent, especially lower down on the slope.