Professional Observation

Observation Details

Signs of Unstable Snow

Snow Stability

Key Points

Skied off the backside of Mammoth Mountain yesterday in order to find some softer snow on a very cold morning.

• At 945  am the temps on the upper Mountain were still below freezing. The ski runs were frozen and chattery to ski.
• Even on a sunny aspect, SSW, coming off the summit, the snow was very hard. Refrozen ski tracks from warmer days and rime covering the chunder.
• At 1030 we dropped into a sheltered SE aspect in a gully and found one inch of nice loose corn snow.
• We continued to milk the aspects as they were softening. The W aspect skied well between 1200 and 1330 hrs.
• At 1400 hrs on a W aspect between 7800′  and 8500′ the snow became very soft. Boot Pen up to my knee.
• I did  not see any new Loose Wet sloughs or rollerballs.