Public Observation

Observation Details

Observations

Toured up Solitude canyon today, just me and the coyotes. I found a cornucopia of snow surfaces, ranging from nice recycled powder in the low elevation N and NNW trees, to very firm (and sometimes scary) crusts in the mid elevation NE trees and exposed high elevation N aspects, to some fun moist snow in the high elevation E aspects, and a plethora of brown land mines at the propane tanks to round out the day.

I observed widespread facets, either on the snow surface, or just underneath a crust, throughout my tour today in all elevations and aspects traveled (NNW-E). I also observed intermittent surface hoar at mid elevations in sheltered locations.

Pointy tools were mandatory and Steve M.'s recent advice to be cognizant of where you're heading with your crampons on was a useful reminder. Given the conditions, it is easy to skin with crampons into an area that could be tricky to transition to booting or skiing, so careful route planning on the slick stuff is a good idea.

At around noon, surface warming on E aspects at 10,500' allowed for boot penetration of about 50% of boot top. No signs of instability observed today.

I did come across an old large avalanche debris field that I would guess came down at the end of the Dec storms or during the wind event around that time. The crown (approx 700' wide) was partially filled back in and the debris was faceting and also melting away. It is a common avy path, but there were 6"+ broken White Bark pines and a good sized debris pile.

Signs of Unstable Snow