Professional Observation

Basic Information

Observation Date:

March 4, 2022

Submitted:

March 4, 2022

Observer:

Brooke Maushund | Pro Observer

Zone or Region:

June Lake

Location:

June Lake Area - Rain on snow, moistening layers

Recent Avalanches?

None Observed

Cracking?

None Experienced

Collapsing?

None Experienced

Stability Rating:

Fair

Confidence in Rating:

Moderate

Stability Trend:

Steady

Rain was mixed in with snow up to 9600′
CTE SC result on the moist interface between old facets and 4F+ snow
Ski conditions were moist, mash potato & grabby breakable crust. However, this made for an improvement to some skinning conditions reported in the past several weeks.
Snow fell very wet and warm and temps teetered on either side of freezing

Cloud cover thickening while approaching the Hourglass

Skinning through breakable, with wet snow on top and moist facets underneath

The sky started to clear as time went on and precip dwindled

Advanced Information

Cloud Cover:

Overcast

Temperature:

0°C

Wind:

Light , SW

1307 / Top of J7 / 10127′ / light SW wind / S1 / OVC but sun visible / AirT = > 0°C
1347 / near Hourglass / 9597′ / moderate SW wind / rain / OVC no sun visible / AirT = -0.4°C / HS 165cm / BootPen = 47cm
1413 / Yost Meadow / 9249′ / moderate SW wind / S2- / OVC sun visible / AirT = 2.1°C / BootPen = 6cm
1431 / 9461′ / light SW wind / S1+ / BKN / AirT = >0°C / BootPen = 4cm

Toured off of J7 towards the Hourglass. While wx started with S1 snow as I departed, as I lost elevation heading towards the Hourglass snow became interspersed with periods of rain. Stopping near 9600′, I dug a quick pit and found the rain saturating layers down to the top of old facets. Upon completing at CT, results were CTE SC on the interface between the 4F+ layer and old facets, which was holding a lot of water from the rain that was slowly percolating its way down into the top of the facets. See video & photos for more details