Public Observation

Observation Details

Observations

Went on a tour from the Obsidian Dome TH to the top of J6 and followed the skintrack up the North side of Chicken Wing today in hopes of finding a good location to check on the rain/snow accumulation and the persistence of the persistent weak layer. I stopped to dig a pit adjacent to the regular skintrack at about 9600 feet on a NNE aspect. Overall, the snowpack seemed to be bonding well and the upper portion was very right-side-up. About 45 cms of new snow estimated from this recent storm at this location. Facets still existed down at the bottom of the snowpack, but seemed to be gaining cohesion. A compression test yielded a non-planar fracture 10 cm above the weak layer. I was surprised by the height of the snowpack at this location - almost 200cm!

Signs of Unstable Snow