11:00 am- Broken skies, no precip, no wind
12: 00 pm- Cloud cover moving in, no precip, moderate winds from the north
1: 00 pm- Whiteout, low visibility, moderate winds from the north
2:30 pm- Clear skies, no precip, light breeze from the north
Observation: Chugach State Park
Location: French Bowl and North Bowl
We started at the South Fork Valley Trailhead, headed up to Hunter Pass, then traversed the ridge line to get back to French Bowl. We skied North Bowl on our way home. Because of the nice visibility, we wanted to get up high to see what the snowpack was doing at upper elevations and to get good views of the mountains in the area.
Weather
Snow surface
6-8" of new snow on top of a supportable crust was present in both French Bowl and North Bowl. Widespread rimed surface hoar was seen on our way up. The ridge traverse conditions varied from bare ground to wind-affected snow. On our way back- many of the exposed ridges did not have surface hoar anymore. The surface hoar had blown away in the wind.
Snowpack
We dug two snow pits right next to each other. This is what we found:
Location: French Bowl
Elevation: 3,500'
Aspect: SW
Slope: 10 degrees
Tests: Both pits- ECTX. No propogation was found in our pits. The snowpack in our pits was relatively right-side up and demonstrated signs of stability. We felt comfortable skiing North Bowl and French Bowl. That being said, we are monitoring the facets at the base of the snowpack, the thin layer of facets midway through the snowpack as well as the new surface hoar.
Rimed surface hoar
Another shot of rimed surface hoar
View of French Bowl from ridge behind North Bowl
View of Harp
Hanging Valley. Photo by Maddie Hall
Wind-affected snow along the ridge behind North Bowl. Photo by Maddie Hall
Sunset ski. Photo by Maddie Hall
Snowpit data
North Bowl Sunset Ski. Photo by Maddie Hall