Quick report
Today, we traveled to the mouth of Gold Cord Basin, where we found mostly early-season conditions and less than a foot of snow on the ground. Generally speaking, this area lacks enough snow coverage to stay off the ground and limits travel abilities. Where the wind has built thicker, denser drifts above weak early-season snow, we were able to trigger a small slide on a test slope intentionally. While stubborn to trigger, areas similar to this felt like the most likely place we could find trouble. For example, wind-loaded slopes at or near ridgelines or in upper elevation alpine bowls.
We intentionally triggered a very small slide on a test slope. This W/NW facing slope at ~4000' had been previously wind-loaded, and it took significant effort to get any movement.Weather
- Cloud Cover
- overcast
- Wind Loading
- previous
- Snow Avail For Transport
- moderate amounts
Skies remained mostly overcast through the day with a light break in the clouds late in the afternoon. Winds were calm. Very light snowfall began around 1 PM, stopping shortly after, with no measurable accumulation.
Snowpack
Overall, we encountered early-season conditions on our tour today. Where the wind had not moved the snow around, we found a height of snow (HS) of about 35cm. Where the snowpack is relatively thin, it is mostly comprised of weak faceted snow capped by snowfall from earlier this week. This recent snowfall has begun to facet as well. Where the wind had moved snow around, it contributed to a marginally deeper snowpack, about 65cm. Here, too, we found that the snowpack was primarily composed of mid-pack facets resting above a thin layer of denser basal facets (1F-1F+). The upper 10-15 cm of the snowpack was beginning to facet, even where the wind had built denser slabs.
Where we intentionally triggered a small slide, the following criteria were met: Weak faceted early-season snow was present, and a marginally stiffer slab of snow—likely formed by wind.