Route
Cornbiscuit N side
Weather
Temp: 6F @ 1,000’ @ 930am
19F @ 1,000’ @ 3pm
Warm-mid 20s to low 30s F at ridgetops
Wind: Calm
Sky: Clear
Precip: none
Obvious Signs Of Instability
Recent Avalanches-NO
Cracking-NO
Collapsing-NO
Surface Obs
1,500-2,000’- Surface hoar averaging 1cm, larger around creek bottoms
2,000-3,000’-Near Surface Facets, 5-10cm thick layer
3,000-3,500’-Pockets of Surface Hoar (5mm), more pronounced along ridge crests
mixed in with NSF
Sluffing occurred in terrain over 40 degrees. Low volume and fast moving (N
aspects). Volume was low enough to not be a concern. Long steep runs averaging
>40 degrees have the potential to produce enough sluffing to knock a person over.
We traveled up W and SW slopes – snow surface was dry. We walked out onto lower
angled S facing slopes around 3,500’ and observed a dry snow surface. It seems
like the sun is likely impacting steep slopes receiving direct sun-we did not
travel on terrain that fell into this category today.
Booting up a North facing slope we found pockets of a 3-4” wind slab below the
low density surface snow. These mini slabs were unreactive.
Snow below the surface
Dug 1 pit around 3,100’ on a North Aspect. No results in stability tests.
Several crusts exist within the top 100cm. The surface snow is very weak, which
made for very good skiing and could be the next problem layer with a new load.
Sluffing was minimal and required terrain over 40 degrees (right side of photo) to initiate. Volume is very low with speed on the high end of the scale
Surface hoar is growing more rapidly in the lower elevations and in pockets along ridgecrests
Pit results in a deep snowpack, N aspect, 3,100' were unremarkable.
The sun has been out lately. We did not observe any significant sun affect today though we only travelled on lower angles on S, W and SW slopes