Observation: Wolverine

Three take-home points from today:

1. Southeast aspects have a poor snowpack structure with facet/crust combinations. In many areas where I have been looking at SE aspects there is little snow on top of the crusts (often just ~30 cms of softer snow) which means we are lacking a slab of stronger snow on top of the weaker facets. On a SE aspect at 10,300' today, I was able to get full propagation with an extended column test (ECTP17) failing down 40 cms in faceted snow just underneath the crust (photo below) where there was a stronger slab on top of the facet/crust layer. Before committing to a steep SE aspect, it is important to first dig down and make sure there is no stronger slab on top of the facet/crust layer.

2. I'm finding 2-meter deep snowpack in some areas of upper LCC where the November facets are now buried well over a meter deeply. Extended column tests were ECTN failing within recent storm snow or old wind drifts and I could not get a fracture in the layer of facets down over a meter deep. It seems we may be transitioning to a pattern where we are beginning to see a deeper and stronger snowpack in the upper Cottonwoods with a thinner and weaker snowpack in Millcreek and along the Park City ridgeline.

3. With good coverage on all aspects at mid and upper elevations and cold temperatures preserving the snow, there are great options for travel and riding without risking triggering large avalanches on the steeper northerly aspects.

Recent storm snow has settled out to 25-35 cms (10-14") providing brilliant riding conditions. Thin sun crusts on some solar aspects that are nothing more than a minor nuisance. On some southerly slopes, there is 2-4 cms of cold stellars on top of the crusts which may provide a potential weak layer on top of these thinner crusts. Will only be an issue with additional snowfall and/or wind-loading.