Lower Snowfields

In our limited travels this afternoon, we found a soft, wet snowpack saturated from rain and warming. Boot penetration was about 5-10 cm where the rain crust from 3/26 was supportive. In other areas less trafficked by skiers, we punched through up to knee or thigh deep. Snow was wet all the way to the ground. Spring hazards have reappeared in the form of glide cracks, holes, and undermined snow. 

We dug a pit in the lower snowfields below empress, a NE facing, 27deg slope at 4057ft. The pit depth was 110cm to the ground. The 3/26 thin rain crust was approximately 5cm down from the snow surface and 2cm thick. The firm, pencil plus, icy layer from the 3/18 deep refreeze was 30cm down and 20cm thick. All other snow around the crusts were 1F+ hard. 

Snow in the pit was wet all the way to the ground. We did “the tang test” and it took the water about a minute to percolate all the way to the ground. This last extended period of rain and above freezing temperatures over the last few days has made the crust layers more permeable as the snowpack transitions toward being isothermal. We did not notice water pooling on any given layer before sinking deeper into the snowpack.