Public Observation

Observation Details

Observations

Toured around the Dunderberg area today. Temps warmed up pretty quickly and the day ended up feeling more like spring than fall. No signs of avalanches, other than the ones in the surrounding area already reported yesterday.

In the morning, I observed surface hoar in sheltered depressions where there was minimal forest cover at around 9,500 ft. I did not observe any SH in more treed areas or up higher on the tour. By the afternoon, the surface hoar I had observed had melted away.

Glopping was a nightmare as the new snow heated up. Even three packets of Pomoca fart lotion couldn't fully prevent it. (Google it.) I dug a pit at around 10,000 ft on a NE aspect in the forest. It would have been more informative to find a place to dig in where there was a wind deposit but alas the glopping was in charge of my itinerary today.

I found 42 cm high snow with ECTX. The snow pack was right side up with the new snow progressing from 4 fingers on top to 1 finger at the bottom which was sitting on 3 cm of knife hard ice or MF crust.

Signs of Unstable Snow