It felt good to get out in some warmer weather! Temps were in the low 20's F under mostly cloudy skies. A low level cloud that was hanging in the drainage made for challenging visibility until it lifted later in the afternoon. Winds were calm.
Observation: Turnagain
Location: Lynx Creek
We rode up Lynx Creek to get our first look at the snowpack in that neck of the woods for the season. We confirmed our suspicions that the snowpack in this corner of our advisory area is thinner and weaker than most of the Turnagain Pass zone. The facets above the Thanksgiving crust were weaker and bigger than what we’ve been seeing elsewhere, and there was 2mm depth hoar at the ground.
This snowpack is likely to produce avalanches once we get a significant load. For now, it is still a possibility but the odds of someone triggering an avalanche are becoming less likely the farther out we move from the last loading event- now over a week ago.
Weather
Snow surface
There was 1-1.5' soft snow on top of the thanksgiving crust. Some more exposed terrain features had some evidence of wind loading, but those features were isolated.
Snowpack
The snowpack was thinner and weaker than anything I've seen at Turnagain Pass this season. The layer of facets above the Thanksgiving crust was fist hard with 1 mm facets. The Thanksgiving crust looked similar in structure to most of our other pits- about 6" thick with alternating layers of crusts and facets. The October facet layer on the ground was weaker (fist hardness) with larger grains (2 mm on average) than what we've seen elsewhere on Turnagain Pass. This could be a scary setup when we get our next big storm.
Looking up drainage this morning. Vis was challenging, but conditions improved later in the afternoon. 12.22.2022
There were some older debris piles under a handfull of the paths in the valley. 12.22.2022
Still kind of thin out there. You can barely make out an older debris pile in the runout zone in the center of the frame. 12.22.2022
Looking back down the valley from our snowpit. 12.22.2022
Snowpit at 2300' on a NE aspect. 12.22.2022
Detailed profile from the snowpit. 12.22.2022