Public Field Report

Observation Details

Signs of Unstable Snow

Observations

Toured up Titus ridge this morning, starting around 9:20 AM. Weather was overcast most of the morning with the occasional snow squall and poking through of sun. Dug a couple of quick pits on my way up, all of them on N/NE aspects. In both pits, I received ECT results of ECTP5 and ECTP2, down 25 cm from the surface on a layer of very apparent and weak facets. Additionally, in the first pit I dug, I kept tapping and got an ECTP20 down 80 cm from the surface on a layer of old, sugary junk. Based on these results, I bailed on my steeper objective and opted for lower angle terrain, though there was a good bit of past skier traffic in the Titus lake chutes and steeper terrain further along the ridge. Not sure how widespread this layer of near surface facets is, but if the north half of the compass receives a helping of wind and snowfall over the next day or two, I wouldn’t be surprised to see avalanches easily triggered on that layer