Quick report
E-SE winds were transporting snow on the Ketchum side of Galena Summit. East facing terrain was becoming heavily wind affected. Winds were sculpting surface snow into slabs in deposition areas, and sastrugi in places facing the wind. No obvious signs of instability. However, the upper snowpack felt 'upside down' and rubbery, even in wind sheltered locations. We mostly avoided avalanche terrain due to poor visibility and rapidly changing conditions due to snow and wind loading. No obvious signs of instability observed today. Limited visibility. We traveled through well trafficked areas on and around Avalanche Peak.
Weather
- Air Temp
- 30-35
- Cloud Cover
- obscured
- Wind Loading
- intense
- Rain Elevation
- In/ out of rain on the drive back starting at Prairie Creek. Steady rain SNRA south.
- Snow Avail For Transport
- moderate amounts
Moderate to Strong E-SE winds. Snow rates were S2. We were in the field for just under 4 hours, during that time we picked up around 4" of snow.
Snowpack
We dug on a NE facing slope at 8600'. Height of snow in this location was 140cm. We noted three interfaces of interest. 1. Facets near the ground (12/05) 2. Melt freeze crust mid pack(12/15) 3. a mid storm snow interface (12/20?). 12/05 Facets: 100cm deep, the 12/05 facets are 1.5mm and moist. The slab above is 1F hard trending to F at the surface of the snowpack. This layer scored a PST 33/100(end). 12/15 Melt-Freeze Crust: 85cm Deep, 12/15 is a thin melt-freeze crust. We did not see any facets associated with this crust. ECTX, CT RP on hard force. 12/21 (?) Mid storm snow interface: Located 70cm down, this layer was a subtle hardness change from 1F to 1F-. We were seeing ECTNs and CT RP results. We did not see any faceted snow grains. Appears to be either a density change, temperature change, or grain change mid storm. Not expecting this layer to linger.