Observation: Summit

Location: Tenderfoot

Date:
Observer:
Route & General Observations

On Thursday December 29, three of us went to check on the snow at Tenderfoot with low expectations. We skinned up the main route through the alder break, and put in the skin track through the lower meadows and trees, and we stopped shortly below tree line on the south side (at about 2300 ft) to dig a quick pit. Down low there was a variable rain crust, but the snow line appeared lower than in Turnagain. At about 1900 ft the rain crust disappeared. As we went up through the meadow, we dug some quick hand pits and noticed a layer of hoar frost about 6 – 8 inches below the surface that we could get to break. The snow on top was pretty unconsolidated, but as we gained elevation and there was more wind affected areas, this surface layer acted more slabby. We noticed bigger hoar crystals in the meadows and trees where it was likely protected from the wind. Above 2200 ft we couldn’t find this hoar crystal layer anymore, and there was more wind affect on the snow surface (wind lips in between the trees, some scouring, wind slab on the surface). We didn’t experience any cracking on the surface as we were putting in the skin track however. We dug a quick pit just above the open rollover at 2300 ft on skiers left of the meadows. Snow depth was 110 cm. We found some rain/wind crusty layers and facets at the ground. We did a column test and there was a failure (but no sliding) at CT13 on the first crust layer 25cm/10 in below the surface. We decided to not go too far above tree line and skinned up a bit further to 2400 ft and we hugged the meadow edge and trees as we skied down. We did a couple laps and the snow was soft with some great turns (before getting back down into the rain crust below). Overall, a great day to be in the mountains and exceeded expectations after some stormy weather!

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

Overcast and flat light. Light to moderate winds above tree line. About 25 F at the car.

Snow surface

Rain crust down below, but this disappeared at about 1900 ft. Snow surface was soft with 6 - 8 inches of new snow from the storms earlier in the week. Funny fist sized lumps in open areas on the snow surface. These lumps were soft and we assumed they were from snow blowing off the trees and landing in the open areas.

Snowpack

We dug a quick pit just above the open rollover at 2300 ft on skiers left of the meadows. Snow depth was 110 cm. We found some rain/wind crusty layers and facets at the ground. We did a column test and there was a failure (but no sliding) at CT13 on the first crust layer 25cm/10 in below the surface.

Photos & Video
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