The snowpack varies greatly in depth depending on the aspect and elevation. Winds have stripped snow and deposited it on leeward aspects leaving some windward aspects bare to ground or shallow with 10" of snow or less. We are typically finding approximately 110 to 180cm or 4 to 6 ft of snow in many locations for height of snow.
Observation: Hatcher Pass
Location: Presidents
Toured from Archangel lot up President’s Ridge to check snow conditions, basal facets, and how the wind has affected the area.
Forecaster Comments
Observer Comments
No collapsing or cracking observed.
No new avalanches since 12/23.
Weather
Weather was very mild; calm winds overcast skies and warm temps.
Snow surface
Snow surfaces have all types of wind effect. There is thick supportable wind slab, thin breakable wind slab, soft deposited snow, sastrugi and anti tracks. The surface is highly variable making the descent quite challenging. In places the wind has scoured the snow down to the 12/5 rain crust.
Snowpack
The snowpacks structure is still poor but there was no propagation in our tests. Wind slab varied in depth from a couple inches thick in our pit to at least a foot thick observed by probing on our tour. The facets at the base are moist and you can easily make a snowball with them.
20221230 lower president
Presidents -30-Dec
20221230presidents ridge
Presidents side wall pit 12.30.22