Observation: NWAC Forecaster

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Weather Summary

Mostly cloudy with some flurries and some sun breaks. Essentially zero wind was experienced in our location.

Avalanche Observation Comments:

We saw a few skier-triggered sluffs, but hardly anything you could call an avalanche.

Snowpack Observations

After getting parked out of our original trip plan, we pivoted to Kendall to try to save the morning obs tour. There's been a number of Kendall obs submitted already covering conditions, but here's another.

Increasing HST depths as you ascend in elevation with plenty of rimed precipitation particles/graupel intermixed. The snow is very low-density in most areas, lacking slab character. However, we did find as we approached ridgelines in exposed areas it had just a little bit more cohesion (slight wind effect?). We got a few blocks/cracks to fail during uptrack tests, but test slopes were unremarkable. The underlying crust was ski but not boot-supportable and slightly moist still. I would categorize the bond as moderate to poor depending on your location and outlook on life. We witnessed multiple travelers sliding on the crust as low-density snow gave way under their feet on steeper sidehills.

On our exit around 1:00, the snow at lower elevations was noticeably heavier than in the morning, due to solar input. A few rollerballs were spotted on the drive home on the highway paths, but no new avalanches.