Scary surface hoar layer buried about 1.5-2 feet down on shadier aspects, even in wind-exposed terrain - I don't trust it at all right now. Middle and lower elevation W-SW-S aspects lacked the surface hoar layer and had a snowpack with a better-looking structure. There was obvious recent wind-loading near most exposed ridgetops.
There is plenty of snow available for transport. W-SW-S slopes had a radiation recrystalization crust that formed yesterday and/or today. Many slopes had small (0.3-0.5cm) surface hoar on the surface.
HS=50-80cm from 6000-7300'
Shady aspects: SPOOKY SH layer buried 30-60cm down (see photo above and profile below), ECTP10,11 and PSTend25
Sunny aspects (W-S-SW): No clean breaks in stability tests, and the structure doesn't look too bad (see photo above and profile below)
Problem | Location | Distribution | Sensitivity | Size | Comments |
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Unknown |
Layer Depth/Date: 30-50cm Weak Layer(s): Nov 27, 2022 (FC) Comments: Location is shaded where surface hoar was directly observed. 1-2cm SH was buried intact in this area, even in at least some normally windy areas. See photos. |
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Unknown |
Layer Depth/Date: 30-60cm (estimated) Comments: Shaded locations represent where I saw the majority of the wind slabs in this area. See photo for wind-loading patterns. |
The surface hoar layer is at a depth (1-2 feet) and burial age (10 days) where it is likely to behave unpredictably: you may be able to trigger avalanches on this layer, even though you may not observe obvious signs of instability (cracking and collapsing). There is enough of a slab to produce large avalanches, but the SH crystals are getting embedded in the layers above and below. There may be portions of slopes that are more resistant to triggering avalanches, and spots on slopes where you could trigger an avalanche that "rips out" the previously mentioned "resistant" portions.
I avoided avalanche terrain (solo travel, and in assessment mode).