Public Observation

Observation Details

Observations

After looking rather ragged last week, Chicken Wing has a fresh if somewhat shallow new coat of paint. Was surprised to find significant new snow still holding on from last Tuesday's storm. Fresh snow depth was 0-3" on approach and along the first bench, with perhaps 2-4" higher up. Mid-levels in the trees seemed stable with fairly even coverage, and appeared to be mixing with old surface facets. Both Eastern and Northern aspects held fresh snow, although the ridge running NE showed evidence of some wind activity, with some sculpted, wind shorn crust. New snow appeared to be settling, with no sluffing observed.

I dug a quick pit at 9,600' along the NE ridge, in a more wind blown area to investigate bonding with previous surface facets. Snow depth was 110cm. A weak crust topped a fairly soft snowpack with hardness varying between 1F and 4F+ throughout. A 10cm fully loose faceted layer existed at the surface.

Harder surfaces were found around the summit, though I was surprised to see the eastern face held some softer snow. Prior to the storm, E aspect was quite torn up, with a hard uneven melt layer. I was concerned about hidden crud on eastern aspects, so descended NNE aspect. Mid-elevation tree coverage provided some terrific skiing with smooth fresh coverage and sufficient depth throughout the descent to the Obsidian Dome Road.

Signs of Unstable Snow