Observation: Public

Observation Details

Signs of Unstable Snow

Observations

We dug a pit on the south facing bowls off Cowboy Mountain to see what was happening in the snow pack on southern aspects during a tour through Grace Lakes, over the Barrier and onto the resort. The snow depth was very unpredictable on the ridge but dropping off either side saw it climb to 145-160cm. Here's what we found in the snow pack @5400ft, S facing, 36deg slope :

Unconsolidated storm snow - 160 - 140 (Fist)
Consoldiated Storm snow - 140 - 100 (4F)
Denser snow - 100-40 (F)
Sun/Wind/Rain Crust - 40 (Ice)
Sugary mixed forms - 40 to the ground.

We can put dates on most of the layering we saw in the snowpack but were mostly concerned about the not as obvious transitions further up the snowpack. We did a column test and had it detach at the 100cm transition between the two denser layers with heavy taps from the shoulder. Not super touchy but weak at that point.