Observation: NWAC Forecaster

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Weather Summary

Snow showers (S-1) persisted through the morning. Winds were generally light with some moderate gusts observed near ridgetop. On our ski out at noon we observed a couple short lived sun breaks, but not quite enough to moisten the snow surface on solar aspects.

Snowpack Observations

Our objective was to see how see how the new snow is bonding with the old snow surface on more shaded aspects.

We found the storm instabilities from 2/26 settling out nicely. We observed minimal signs of instability as we traveled. Across the terrain we observed 30-35 cm of new storm snow from day prior. This new snow sits on thin melt-freeze crust (formed on 2/25) that extends to ridge-top in the location. The shovel tilt test was our go-to snowpack test today, since the new snow is lacking slab-like characteristics and shows weak layers within the new snow well. With multiple tilt tests and in a test profile @ 5000 ft NW aspect, we didn't observe any notable test results.

At our transition point near ridgetop winds gusted into the moderate range, which easily drifted the new snow.

HS ranges from 150-200 cm in this part of the zone.

Overall we found good snowpack stability on more sheltered slopes and excellent riding conditions.