Quick report
This area has been heavily traveled since the storm ended, and this Saturday was no exception. Our goal was to see how these lingering, unreactive wind slabs were progressing and to assess what kind of wet loose activity these temperatures might trigger. We traveled on sleds and skis, and we saw no new avalanches or signs of instability during our trip. The breakable sun crust, 2 to 4cm thick, softened up with the warm temperatures and afternoon sun for some really nice corn skiing! Might be the wrong month for corn, but good turns to be had nevertheless!
Weather
- Air Temp
- 30s
- Cloud Cover
- clear
- Wind Loading
- previous
Cold start to the morning at 4 F at the trailhead before temperatures climbed to above freezing by midday. Clear skies and calm winds kept things pretty hot into the afternoon.
Snowpack
Slopes facing W-SE between 7100' and 9100' had a breakable sun crust 2-4cm thick. As we moved around to Southeast aspects, we found 10-15cm of near-surface facets had developed under this crust at middle elevation in some areas. There were also wind-loaded slopes and ridgelines, as you could see rows, sastrugi, and ripples on the surface of most aspects where the sun had not completely baked slopes in previous days. We dug a pit at 9100' on an east aspect, HS 220cm, with a wind slab in the upper portion of the snowpack that we expected; it was unreactive to test. ECTX