Very warm. Air temp was 5.5C = 43F in the shade at 1,700’. Sky cover was in and out, the morning was overcast and flat light. By early afternoon there were some breaks to sunshine. Similar for wind, morning was calm then early afternoon intermittent moderate gusts. Even with how warm and sticky the snow surface was, we saw wind transport occurring and mid and upper elevations.
Observation: Summit
Location: Templeton
Toured up to the lower slopes of Templeton. Very warm and wet snow surface. Substantial glopping onto skins on the way up, and then sticky, grabbing snow when trying to milk a few turns on the way out.
Weather
Snow surface
Warm, wet, good snowball making snow in the top couple of centimeters. Tough skinning and real tough, grabby skiing on the lower angle apron we tried to ski.
Snowpack
See pit profile.
Hard to say how much effect the warm temps have had on the snowpack in the past several days. HS of only 112cm was shorter than expected. January facets felt a bit harder in a hand-hardness test, but still brushed out of the pit wall easily and didn’t have any cohesion.
Instability test results were tough to interpret. ECTX and CT15Q3@87cm, which was at the top of facets layer. Shovel shear test failed at bottom of facets layer, called it Moderate.
We tried two Propagation Saw Tests in the facets layer but neither felt good. There might have been an old buried track on that side of the pit that was giving us trouble?
Quick look at the lower snowpack and facets under the early season crust seemed especially well-developed and weak at this particular pit location.
Pit photo
Pit profile
Active wind transport at middle elevations
Wind stripped upper elevations on the west side of the highway - Gilpatrick & Summit Peak.