Observation: Hatcher Pass

Location: Murphy Bench

Date:

March 2, 2018 12:00pm

Observer:

APU Snow Science 1 Eeva Latosuo Professional

Route & General Observations

APU Snow Science 1 group toured up to 3900′ on Murphy Bench to practice stability tests & look at snowpack layers.

Red Flags

Red flags are simple visual clues that are a sign of potential avalanche danger. Please record any sign of red flags below.

Observer Comments

None observed.

Weather & Snow Characteristics

Please provide details to help us determine the weather and snowpack during the time this observation took place.

Weather

Calm and pleasant greybird day at Hatcher with a short lived clearing in the middle of the day. Temps just below freezing all day. No new precipitation.

Snow surface

Variable with breakable wind crust and wind stiffened powder. We did not find the best ski quality today.

Snowpack

We wanted to investigate the reactivity of the Valentine's Day facets, but came home without dramatic test results. Interface within storm snow layers 50-65cm down failed repeatedly, but facets did not produce much excitement. Snowpack in our location was strong with low propagation propensity, even if some layers seem to have structural weaknesses.

Photos & Video

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Nothing new to report from Murphy Bench on this greybird Friday.