Observation: Public

Observation Details

Signs of Unstable Snow

Observations

Short tour into Commonwealth/Kendall. Looked like perhaps 10-15 people had used the skintrack today. Luge-track is swoopy/fun, but hasn't quite hit mid-season stride.

Radio calls for a party-line census on 3-7 got no reply, nor did we hear anyone on the community channel. We can't coordinate with you if you're not on the channel.

10-30 cms of crushed-velvet snow in most places above the crust. Top 10 cms in the open were slightly more dense/cohesive and were willing to slide as soft slabs when stepping above the skintrack. Ski quality was pretty good -- best on sheltered open slopes away from the wind. Skinning was grippy in the new warm-ish snow; glide was also much better than we experienced during the recent cold temps.

Bond of the new to the Christmas Crust seemed pretty good everywhere. Crust was generally edgeable, but pole-tip penetration only sometimes reached the basket. With effort, the crust could be penetrated with a ski-pole at elevations above ~4k'. While skiing, we never broke through.

No significant instability noted, but I'm pretty sure you can find it if you go hunting on steeper wind-loaded slopes.

Wind effect had slabbed up snow on both sides of ridgelines; we didn't venture far from the trees to find the bigger slabs.

Snowed light/moderate all afternoon, as predicted. Visibility never more than a kilometer, mostly less. Clouds occasionally got thin, but never more than pastel-blue.