Observation: Public

Observation Details

Signs of Unstable Snow

Observations

We traveled and skied mostly N and NE aspects. These slopes held several feet of cold, dry powder. We popped over onto a south slope briefly. On the S aspect, the top ~1” of snow was very wet and the snow was generally very heavy.

A snow pit on a NE aspect at 5500’ showed 155cm of snow over the MLK crust. Two other crusts were present at 90 and 110cm below the snow surface. The snowpack was well-bonded to the upper crust.

A deep tap test failed on the 90cm crust with DTH(22) and planar fracture quality. This layer did not fail in a CT or ECT.

The snow surface in the upper bowl consisted of mostly intact storm snow - plates with 2-3mm grain size. At lower elevations on our way out (~3500 ft) we observed surface hoar in open areas with no trees.