Public Field Report

Observation Details

Signs of Unstable Snow

Observations

Cold Start to morning tour. Was 10 degrees at hwy with wind that probably had wind chill of close to 0 degrees F. Around 7,000-7,500ft in shady areas snow was pretty faceted out. As we climb and got to western exposed ridge around 8,000ft snow was starting to get soft and gloppy, but by 8,500ft with the cold temps. and wind the open ridge areas snow was staying cold. Skied a N Aspect with good soft snow. North shady aspects the surface hoar was starting to form.
Dug pit around 8,800ft on North aspect HS 65 cm. Was close to top ridgeline. The top 1.5cm had a very light crust. 3cm facet layer around 41-38cm. 10cm to ground had some small grain facets. CTN test result. Shovel sheer test showed that the snow pack was mainly one big slab. Found that the snowpack in the area we skied didn’t have much energy to it at this time. Since there hasn’t been any new loading in the past 10 days or so.