Quick report
- Red Flags
- Wind Loading, Cracking, Poor Snowpack Structure
- Red Flags Comment
- <p>The wind loading was minor, but the newest snow was just a little wind affected up high, and cracky on steep slopes. Upper elevations still have poor snow pack structure where I was - dry, October facets near the ground, multiple layers of loose, dry faceted graupel.</p>
Today I traveled at higher elevations than I have been this winter. Somewhere above about 10,000 feet, the snowpack changes to one that has been consistantly cold, and is quite different from the mid elevations with the warmer snowpack. The October facets near the ground are still dry, loose and weak. There seem to be large amounts of graupel in the pack, with significant pooling beneath chutes and cliff bands.
In general, it's a much more layered and weaker snowpack, significantly different than many other areas I have looked at. The rapid transition to this weaker snowpack over a short distance could be tricky for stability analysis as the winter goes on.
Snowpack
Wet, saturated snow at and below the rain line, dense snow at the higher elevations.