Professional Observation

Observation Details

Signs of Unstable Snow

Snow Stability

Key Points

I took a quick lap off the backside of MMSA this afternoon to see if I could find any areas of excessive warming and to see how moist and sticky snow was getting on more northerly aspects.
No signs of instability were observed on the solar aspects, even near rock outcroppings, in thin areas, or on steep rollovers with thin coats of new snow from last week’s storm. Up high surfaces are quite textured but I found soft snow as high as 11,000′ on solar aspects. Below 10,500′ or so I found quite pleasant corn skiing. boot pen was minimal and for the most part, any new snow on the surface is spotty in distribution NTL and ATL and has been cooked down pretty well.
The biggest takeaway for me today was the thin and diminishing coverage on the backside of Mammoth. I skied off of “Daves wave” and the options for getting past the small cliff bands are becoming very limited.
I toured towards the Mccloud trees above horseshoe lake to see if northerly aspects were staying cold. While I did find cold surface snow in shaded northerly areas, even a small amount of solar gain was turning surface snow moist and sticky. That being said I was not able to initiate any concerning roller balls or pinwheels. The moist sticky snow was more a travel concern. Glopping was almost unavoidable and skiing felt a bit stop and go at times.
No signs of instability were observed on my tour today. However, I suspect coverage will take a significant hit during the warm-up this week, and we may have a new range of surface crusts when the temps drop again.