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Professional Observation

Basic Information

Observation Details

Observation Date:
April 4, 2020
Submitted:
April 5, 2020
Observer:
SAC - VandenBos (off duty)
Zone or Region:
Soldier and Wood River Valley Mtns
Location:
Indian Creek

Signs of Unstable Snow

Recent Avalanches? 
None Observed
Cracking? 
None Experienced
Collapsing? 
None Experienced

Snow Stability

Stability Rating: 
Good
Confidence in Rating: 
High
Stability Trend: 

Advanced Information

Weather Summary

S-1 showers around 7pm with no accumulation. Calm to light winds, picking up with arrival of snow.

Snowpack Observations

Dug at 7,500' on NNW aspect, where HS=60-70cm. Impressively thin, weak snowpack. Mixed bag of stability test results, suspect mostly due to lack of much of an overlying slab. All results reported are down 35-40cm on very well developed F- DH 3-6mm. ECTP5, ECTX, ECTN13. CPST 29/100 END, 33/100 SF, 35/100 SF. Entire snowpack was dry, no sign of transition to spring snowpack yet, hard to imagine that is going to be a pretty process...

(4/4/2020) A thin and weak snowpack exists in the mountains above the Wood River Valley. Most slopes on the southern half of the compass are free of snow. This slope faces NNW at an elevation of 7,500' above Indian Creek. This snowpack produced unstable snowpack test scores failing on the obvious depth hoar about 2/3 of the way down to the ground.

Avalanche Problems

No wet snow problems today, not enough recent snow for significant wind slabs. I would not feel comfortable entering avalanche terrain with a snowpack similar to the one I found here, but triggering persistent slab seems pretty unlikely.

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