Observation: Turnagain

Location: Tincan - Center Ridge to Common Bowl

Date:
Observer:
Route & General Observations

Anchorage Nordic Ski Patrol – Backcountry Patrol from Center Ridge Parking Lot to Common Bowl Tincan.

Lot of folks out enjoying the snow. Mostly folks lapping the trees on Tincan. Tincan parking lot was full, so we started from Center Ridge. Very few folks above tree line, as the visibility was difficult. Nice day on skis.

Red Flags
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Observer Comments

None.

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

Overcast all day. Very little to no wind. Temps in the 20s. Lightly snowing starting at 2:00 PM. Visibility was challenging above treeline.

Snow surface

Soft new snow from Center Ridge parking lot to Common Bowl on Tincan. Skied very nicely.

Snowpack

Soft snow on top of a rain crust. Crust was closer to the surface at parking lot. Crust was found buried 55 cm down at 2500 feet. Not detectible unless you dug for it. Crust was around 15 cm thick. Other than the crust, the snow pack was rounds increasing in density from Fist to pencil. Facets were found at the last 10 cm above the ground surface. Shovel shears were clean, but difficult to trigger. Compression test only failed in the new snow layer 20 cm down.

Photos & Video
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