Public Field Report

Observation Details

Signs of Unstable Snow

Observations

My group of 6 skinned up the ridge from the parking lot, then skied down upper bowl, skinned back up, then skied down lower bowl back to our cars - rode north/northeast facing slopes.

We dug a snowpit and did some compression tests at 8570ft on a 18 degree, east facing slope. The pit showed a small, softer F layer on top of a 4F layer, then a small F layer at the bottom. Conditions showed to be stable after doing two compression tests (top layer broke after 6 taps, then no break after 30 taps). There was a thin wind skin near the ridge, and a thin sun crust on sunny slopes.

Weather was mostly sunny with a light westerly wind. Riding conditions were good in shady areas that didn't develop a crust from the sun. No avalanches observed.