Public Field Report

Observation Details

Signs of Unstable Snow

Observations

Soldier One NE slope at 8505; Cloudy and very little wind, around 18 degrees.

Cat track hadn't gone up recently since the end of the storm above the ski area. Was pretty calm in the morning which was surprising, 11 degrees in ski area.

Conditions were quite variable on the elevations, especially above 8000' on Soldier one. Thinner patches in place and big drifts nearby as suspected. Below 7500 we found mostly bare dirt/sage brush with 20+ inches on top of it (terrible for snowboarders) unless in a very shaded area (N to NE or creek bottoms, or heavily timber) where the wind or sun hadn't gotten to. Took a short video of the pit we dug at 8505' on Soldier one and sent it. The CT test was mixed (>10 in one area E face same elevation 80 cm depth, 23 in our main pit), while we didn't get a result on the ECT (>30) in our main pit. My suspicion of drifts everywhere on both sides of the ridges, but larger ones on the NW and N ridges was correct and it was starting to form wind slabs on the surface in areas, no significant cracking on surface quite yet. S facing ridges had larger wind drifts as well from early on in the storm (wind switched on Tuesday according to Soldier 2 gauge). Some of the E slopes and S slopes looked to be safer as its rooted on bare dirt but we kept it at 28 degrees for skiing cause we don't trust the areas where we think bare dirt is and old faceted snow lay (very hard to tell in places).

Pit on NE slope at 8505' on Soldier One showed 115 cm of snowpack in semi-protected area. CT failed at 70 cm on thick facet layer. Not well bonded. Ice at 80 cm, and several more layers of facets 2-3 inches thick each, solid ice layer on ground. No result on the ECT test.