Steamboat & Flat Tops
SnowpackMax Strotbeck · Jan 27, 2025 · Steamboat & Flat Tops
Weather
Clear skies and calm winds. Temperatures started near zero and warmed up to near freezing. No new snow.
Snowpack
I found the height of snow to range greatly in close proximity, from 70cm on rocky northerly slopes to 200cm on wind-loaded northerlies. The snowpack was less talkative than I expected given what I saw on Walton Peak over the weekend. Walking above isolated steep convex rolls with shallow coverage, I experienced no signs of instability. The mid-January dry spell layer did not propagate in extended column tests apart from where wind had drifted additional snow on a leeward east aspect near ridgeline forming a thicker and stiffer slab (ECTP22 down 45cm x2) above a 1cm thick faceting crust. Elsewhere, this layer was composed of a thin layer of lying-down surface hoar and facets.