Professional Observation

Observation Details

Signs of Unstable Snow

Key Points

I left the car in the early afternoon in the hopes of finding more substantial snow accumulation. 

• A trace of snow was on the ground as i made my way across the flats around 1 pm. by 4 pm near the top of the feature, new snow totals ranged from 2-4 in with drifts as deep as 12″ in favorable catchment zones.
• Localized cracking was observed in a couple areas with more substantial wind deposits and on one test slope I triggered shooting cracks about 20 ft long and was able to trigger a very small and very thin panal of wind slab. 
• Fresh deposits were not very stiff yet, 4f at most, and behaved more like small loose dry sluffs as they moved down the hill.
• On a couple steep rollovers in more protected areas i was also able to initiate some small loose dry sluffs which seemed more easily initiated in ares with old hard surfaces underneath. 
• Old tracks and significant treebomb activity kept things interesting on the descent, providing a challenge for the powder forward riders out there.