Small loose snow avalanches
Cracking in wind affected snow
Observation: Turnagain
Location: Magnum and Cornbiscuit
Standard PMS uptrack on Magnum to 3400′ and Cornbiscuit NW shoulder to 3500′ on ridge.
Observer Comments
Weather
Clear and sunny with valley fog to the north and a little to the south
-8°F at the car to start - teens at upper elevations
Calm
Snow surface
Surface hoar and near surface facets.
Wind effect started around 2000' in more exposed terrain and was really variable. Some very thin wind skin, some breakable wind board, some small pockets of wind slab and some protected soft settled powder.
Snowpack
We dug at 3000' on SW aspect of Magnum, 25° slope. HS: 310 cm, pit depth 100 cm. There was a thin wind skin on the surface over near surface facets. There were two layers of buried surface hoar visible with nsf in the pit wall. One 8 cm down, CT5, CT4 and the 1.28 layer was 20 cm down, CT10, CT14, ECTN15 and ECTP13, ECTP3. There is a layer of decomposing precip particles that have faceted down 35 cm, CT22 (x2), ECTN 21. Aside from the very thin wind crust on the surface the the upper 20 cm was essentially all near surface faceted snow and surface hoar layers that was just barely cohesive enough to behave as a slab. This is mostly due to a thin layer of slightly stiffer snow just above the 1.28 surface hoar.
Wind slab over weak snow continues to be the main concern.
Small recent loose snow avalanches on Magnum north side - from loading from NW winds coming from the south...
Buried weak layers in the upper snowpack
Wind board near the uptrack on Magnum
Magnum cornice over PMS Bowl
Investigating small pocket of wind slab failing on buried surface hoar
Sluffs on Sunburst
Valley fog to the north
Valley fog to the south
Wind effect on the Cornbiscuit NW shoulder
Hand hardness in pit @ 3000' on Magnum