Professional Observation

Observation Details

Signs of Unstable Snow

Few D1-R2-SS-N (small natural storm slab avalanches that failed during the storm within the new snow, down ~30cm) on steep convexities and under cliffs.

Snow Stability

Key Points

Went on a very short ski tour to get a sense of low-mid elevation coverage, and assess for storm slab instabilities in steep treed glades.

Coverage is pretty bony near Twin Lakes but improves as you gain a couple hundred feet. Lots of logs and stumps still poking out, though. Probed 120-150cm consistently on the uptrack.

Dug a quick pit, HS 145cm. A very “right-side up” snowpack here, in an area with little wind affect. See pit profile for layering structure. A couple of compression tests identified the old snow-new snow interface from the last event on Nov. 3, as well as inter-storm layers, though none of the tests failed cleanly. The biggest takeaway was that at these elevations (>9000′) even in close proximity to Mammoth Pass, an abundance of caution should be taken on the downhill.