Professional Observation

Observation Details

Signs of Unstable Snow

Snow Stability

Key Points

Booted up and skied down TJ Bowl today. OVC skies almost all day. A window of clear sky opened up around 1430 in the west and allowed some direct solar radiation to come in underneath the thick cloud cover. Temps felt above freezing (did not measure) It was calm all day.

We found a mixed bag of snow surfaces ranging from soft to very firm wind board.We did not go all the way to the crest. The entrances off the crest look steep, narrow and rocky.

The entrance into TJ Bowl is very wind sculpted.

Skied a firm but edgeable panel of wind board on the skiers right in TJ bowl from 10450 ft about 2/3 down the chute. Good turns on a smooth and predictable surface. Then we swung left to a NE aspect where we found soft wind rippled snow for another shorter run.

I did not see any signs of instability. The biggest risk is taking a slide on the firm snow surface. We used ski and boot crampons as well as our axes.