Observation: Public

Observation Details

Signs of Unstable Snow

Observations

Snowshoed up the NW ridge of Humpback Mountain today, found pretty minimal snow below 3k'. However, as we climbed higher, the snow became deeper and sloppier. Between 3 and 4k', the snow had not solidly refrozen, and was pretty rough for traveling. As we climbed above 4k', we found between 6' and 10' of softer powder lying on a wet and solid bed layer. The trees were heavily loaded w several inches on branches and a lot of rime.

We saw little to no loose wet evidence on the climb up, as there was solid cloudcover overhead for most of the climb. As we summited in mid-afternoon, the sun came out strongly for roughly 30 minutes, and the trees immediately began shedding. W and N slopes became quickly littered with pinwheels, including some that grew over 3 ft tall.

We got off the slopes before we saw any loose wet slides, and the sun went behind the clouds soon after.