Steamboat & Flat Tops
AvalancheKreston Rohrig Jason Konigsberg · Jan 5, 2019 · Steamboat & Flat Tops
Weather
Strong inversion and cold valley temps to start the day. Mid 20s at higher elevations with calm SW winds and increasing cloud cover in the afternoon.
Snowpack
We dug on a few different aspects and elevations and found considerable differences between wind-drifted and protected areas between 10500' and 11000'. The first pit we dug on a NW slope at 10600' in a protected area was weak and faceted from top to bottom. Getting off your sled you would sink right to the bottom. Higher up on a NE facing slope at 11000' we found a wind-drifted slope with the complete opposite snowpack. This site was 175cm of dense, consolidated snow with some minor faceting in the upper 20-30cm and a stubborn layer of surface hoar buried 50cm down. The last site was on a ENE slope at 10800' in a less wind-effected spot. The upper 30cm was soft and facetd, but the mid-pack slab was still supportable. The same surface hoar layer was found 40cm down but did not propagate a fracture. Overall, it's a mixed bag. Sheltered areas are the weakest and won't be able to support a big load of snow from this next storm. Previously wind-drifted slopes have a deeper and stronger snowpack and may be more stable during this next round of snow.
Avalanche
None observed