Steamboat & Flat Tops

Avalanche

CMC AIARE Lvl 1 · Feb 16, 2020 · Steamboat & Flat Tops

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Weather

Overcast to obscured skies all day at 9300ft. WSW light winds with moderate gusts at times. Snow transport was building some small wind slabs in isolated areas on NE and E aspects. Snowfall rates of S1-S2 all day. Intense bursts of graupel in the early afternoon with about 3-4cm accumulation. Temps in the mid to upper 20s all day.

Snowpack

Snow depth on north aspect @ 9300ft of 240cms, Storm snow 15-25cms being transported easily and building some small windslabs in lee (NE & E) aspects. Storm snow was reactive down 25cms in our north facing pits with repeated CTE results, although the fractures were lower quality (RP/BRK). Found some buried near surface facets (down 55cms) that were stubborn (CTH) and also had lower quality fractures (RP/BRK). We did not find any propagation on the storm snow or buried facet layers (ECTN24, down 55cm).

Avalanche

None observed.