Professional Observation

Observation Details

Signs of Unstable Snow

Snow Stability

Key Points

Surface conditions were quite variable along my travels.

• A variety of crusts were encountered on my descent to Yost meadow from the top of J 7 including but not limited to thin melt-freeze crusts, breakable wind board, fully supportable but edge-able windboard, and small patches of soft faceted snow.
• Climbing to the ridge of the negatives was pretty quick going although I was very happy to have my ski crampons. I transitioned to boot packing as things got steeper and I transitioned to a more E-facing slope which had a very hard and slick surface.
• I dug several small pits to evaluate the extent of moist surface grains at different elevations and in areas with different solar impacts. On average I found a transitional snowpack with 2-5 cm of moist grains on top of cold winterlike snow. in heavily wind compacted areas, the surface melt is about 2 cm while in areas with less wind board I found moist surface grains made up about the top 5 cm on average in areas with (mostly) direct sun.
• On one SW tilted slope near a rock outcropping, I found 70 cm of total snow with 15 cm of moist grains on top of a 10 cm Knife hard crust layer. this was in turn on top of colder transitional snow.  This was the outlier today as most areas showed minimal signs of surface warming.
• Faceting is occurring in the top 30 cm or so in most locations, particularly in more haded areas.  The wind board starting to break down a bit in some areas and provide an edge-able experience.
• Surface hoar was widespread at all elevations in more shaded areas. I even found a panel on the top of the negatives. This was a bit of a surprise to me but confirmation of the very light winds today.
• I found sliding conditions today warmed just enough to be pleasant on the far skiers’ left side of the solar bowl. ~15′ or so from the cliff wall I found surface snow to be hard and slick. I was happy to find mostly soft turns because this particular line provided its own flavor of adventure, what I would refer to as “Billy goating.”
• the lower flanks of the Negatives were back in the shade by the time I got there at 130 or so and the surface had started to refreeze quite a bit making for a bit more challenging, and “crunchy” riding conditions.
• No signs of instability were observed on my tour today.