Quick report
- Red Flags
- Wind Loading, Poor Snowpack Structure
- Red Flags Comment
- <p>Snow transport was evident today, with visible saltation and some blowing snow on ridgelines. I'm sure wind slab pockets are still to be found up high. Did not note significant cornice development on mid elevation ridgelines.</p> <p>Snowpack structure below. </p>
Snow depths at low elevations ca. 1.5-2 meters.
Dug full depth on NE at 6800ft (1.6m) and found the bottom 30-40cm still featured the basal November facets, though these are now getting a bit damp. Above this about 50cm P hard snow, with 25cm of 1F on top of that. Upper 40cm of the snowpack features right side up 4F with F on the surface (and the crust just below the surface noted above).
Hand pits, a shovel shear, and CTs revealed failure along a graupel layer between storm layers about 30-40cm down. The shovel shear was quite easy, though the hand pits were fairly resistant, while CTs were 20+ taps and sudden, thought not always clean. I'm still suspicious of the storm layers from the last week or storms, especially with the various density inversions and graupel in the snowpack from the rapid fire waves of precipitation and warm temperature regimes. Even if you can find terrain without a basal persistent problem, the "surface" concerns 1 to 2 feet deep aren't to be trifled with.
Photo of low elevation crust.
Snowpack
Overnight snowfall was a bit of a disappointment. We picked up perhaps 3" of graupel and dense snow at the mid elevations, 2" at the low elevations. Beneath this is a 1-2" crust at trailhead elevation (owing to warm temps and/or a bit of liquid precipitation?), diminishing to nearly undetectable by about 7000ft. Regardless, the crust is breakable but not too grabby underfoot while skiing.
Snow surface was wind affected in a number of places, but generally not severe enough to inhibit riding in the low elevations.