No cracking or collapsing was observed.
Observation: Hatcher Pass
Location: Thousand Dollar Run
We went for a short tour up Thousand Dollar Run to get an idea of coverage and to see what’s going on in the snowpack.
Observer Comments
Weather
The weather was quite pleasant today with calm to light winds and good visibility. Cloud coverage increased throughout the day. While touring up you could still feel warmth from the sun and in the shade temperatures sat at 23°F.
Snow surface
The snow surface was quite variable today. At lower elevations fist to 4F hard snow was widespread. Above 4200' thin wind slabs 1-2" thick could be found on leeward features. At ridge tops small cornices have formed. 1-2mm surface hoar was found above 3500'. It's still early season riding conditions. Small creeks are still running and we saw one ground squirrel running across the slope.
Snowpack
During our tour we got the impression that snowpack changes quite drastically as you increase elevation. Below 3500' a crust could be felt 10-15cm from the surface. This crust behaved like a slab in some hand pits. Above 4200' the height of snow(HS) was 60-120cm. Where we dug our pit the snowpack had poor structure, moderate to high strength, and low propagation potential.
Thousand Dollar Run 4270'
NNW HS 64cm
ECTP29 failed on 1mm moist facets near the ground
Old wet loose avalanches on the south face of Skyscraper.
Some wind effect and thin wind slabs were found above 4000'
Still lots of rocks lurking below the surface!
Small avalanches that most likely occurred during the last storm