Public Observation

Observation Details

Observations

Afternoon tour up Mono Jim today. We followed the skinner up the gully for a ways, but then broke off to Everett's(?) skinner from yesterday. Snow was very supportable and breaking a new skinner was as easy as following the existing ones. Fantastic powder on the approach in the moraines above Convict and Tobacco flats. Skied the North Face of Mono Jim and were lucky enough to get fantastic conditions! (Been wanting to ride this line since I was in 8th grade!) On the skin up, it felt very hot. We were in T-shirts with no gloves, but once we got in the shade the air was quite cold (definitely below freezing). It was totally calm, with no wind transport at all. Everett's(?) skinner had very little snow blown in overnight, but higher in Old Man's bowl we found patchy wind slab, which was unreactive. No signs of instability. I couldn't get any switchbacks to crack when jumping on them, except for one, which was very resistant. At the bottom of old man's bowl I jumped on a test slope and couldn't get any cracking or response. A hand shear on this slope broke non-planar about 2' down. There was no noticable layer or difference in hardness where the block broke. Snow was rightside up.

We skied the steeps at the top of the east face of Mono Jim, and I dug hand pits at the top of each new pitch in a new aspect. Near the ridge the top of the east face was wind buff, and down to 2' the snow was rightside up with no distinct layers. No cracking or signs of instability. The very steep windbuff skied well. Further from the ridge the snow became more powdery, with a wind crust. It also skied well. The top 2' of the north face (near the ridge, at the top) was rightside up windbuff with no distinct layers. A handshear broke 2' down nonplanar (stepped 1/3 the way through the block). It rolled out, not sliding out, and there was no noticable layer it broke in. Conditions in the north face were excellent, some of the best skiing I've ever done. There was a thin crust on top of supportable powder, and 108 skis cut right through the crust with no effort. A party skied the east face of Morrison and we watched them ski Morrison col, and another likely skied Morison col after them.

Observed Avalanches

Signs of Unstable Snow