Steamboat & Flat Tops

Avalanche

Alex Blanchard · Feb 6, 2023 · Steamboat & Flat Tops

View on map

Weather

Direct sunlight all day and little wind was starting to effect the snow despite the low ambient temperature

Snowpack

Noticed a (sun?) crust starting to form on the top 1cm of the snow. It wasn't reactive when snowmobiling, but I noticed it a couple of times when digging out. It was pretty cohesive and very poorly bonded to the snow underneath it. I.e. you could pull of large chunks of it and it would slide with little force if you isolated it from below.

Avalanche

Didn't note anything and the issue was isolated to the top of the snowpack so we weren't worried about it while riding, but I could definitely see it becoming an issue with another 6"-12" of snow on top of it this week