Clear, calm, and cold through the day
Observation: Hatcher Pass
Location: $1000 Run
Our course went up to the lower slopes of $1000 Run to dig pits and perform stability tests. Saw no obvious red flags with the exception of a few small skier triggered dry loose avalanches on the S face of Eldorado
Weather
Snow surface
0.5 - 1.0mm near-surface facets and surface hoar
Snowpack
Dug pit on N facing 23* slope. We found the buried drizzle crust about 30 cm down with ~10cm of faceting snow above the crust. The bottom half of the snowpack consisted of large depth hoar, some of which were chained near the ground.
Stability test results:
CT11 Q3, ECTN21-23, and PST 75/100 Arr on facets just above drizzle crust
CT18-21 Q2 and PST 20/100 End 30 cm above ground in the depth hoar.
This PST was our most concerning test result. This layer did not propagate or even fracture during any of our ECTs. This shows how weak the depth hoar is near the ground but how hard it is to impact it right now unless you are in the right place where the snowpack is shallow enough.
Students performing an ECT
No propagation today (ECTN22) in facets above the drizzle crust
$1000 Run Ob