Observation: NWAC Forecaster

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Weather Summary

Sky cover ranged from ping pong ball to scattered skies several times throughout the day. The only wind I encountered was moderate westerly gusts on Huntoon Point., although wind above 5000ft was lightly wind-affected with thinner patches and occasional drifts up to 15cm.

Avalanche Observation Comments:

Steep southerly slopes quickly released tiny point-release rollerballs not long after the sun hit them, especially around rocks. Many glide cracks were seen, possibly a few more than in the last several days, but hard to keep track of at this point.

Snowpack Observations

I dug several shallow pits to investigate crusts and moisture content of snow. Aside from the few cm's of snow from yesterday, I struggled to find dry snow. All areas had at least a 5cm knife hard crust beneath the new snow. From beneath the initial crust I found a thick crust sandwich in nearly all areas I dug, mostly finding 5+cm thick knife-hard layers interspersed by 5+cm layers of moist 1F or P hard moist round or melt form layers. Digging locations were 3 different Table Mountain aspects at ~5200ft, just above Heather Meadows parking lot, and Huntoon Point. Even at 3700ft I found a 10cm moist but still very supportable crust before giving way to moist, loose melt forms beneath. This was on a low-angle northerly aspect.

Overall, I found the snowpack well locked up with the current conditions. I still avoided traveling beneath glide cracks. The new snow on top was not enough to cause an avalanche concern at the elevations and areas I traveled to. Hand shear tests on the few small steep wind drifts I could find showed a good bond to the underlying crust. The fresh snow slightly dampened the scratchiness of downhill travel, and the crust beneath is at least edgeable. Still, the day was made better by sticking to low-angle terrain for ease of travel over firm, bumpy surfaces.