Steamboat & Flat Tops
AvalancheMax Strotbeck · Feb 13, 2024 · Steamboat & Flat Tops
Weather
Nice day for a tour up Hahns Peak. Clouds were scattered and temps were in the mid-twenties. Winds were light from the southwest below treeline and moderate near treeline. No new snow.
Snowpack
Height of snow seemed to average around 120-170cm on aspects traveled (west through north through east). Some west facing slopes were closer to 100cm, while some leeward east facing slopes near ridgeline measured greater than the length of my probe (over 300cm) due to previous snow transport. The snow surface primarily consisted of decomposing fragments, with some small surface hoar growth in more open, wind-sheltered areas. Beneath the surface, the snow was also soft (fist hard) decomposing fragments where the sun had not formed a crust (on west aspects) . I did not see much evidence of near-surface facets. As I neared ridgeline, the winds increased and the most recent snow that fell over the weekend was being transported onto easterly aspects. Traversing above the East Bowl of Hahns Peak, there were only small cornices that had built up. Kicking these off, I did not trigger any avalanches. In a snowpit dug on a west aspect, I found a 3cm thick crust buried 40cm deep that likely developed in the latter half of January. I initiated failure on this layer in an extended column test with hard taps, but it did not propagate (ECTN27). In a snowpit dug on a northwest aspect, I found buried surface hoar around this same depth (42cm deep) that likely developed prior to the first storm of February. Again, I initiated failure on this layer in an extended column test, this time with moderate taps, but it did not propagate (ECTN14). While this buried surface hoar is stubborn, with further loading from the incoming storm we could see avalanches fail on this layer.
Avalanche
I did not observe any avalanches today.