Metal Dome

Quick report

Weather

stormy, windy, cold

Ride Type

mellowSlopes, openTrees

Riding Quality

ok

Snow Conditions

crusty, powder, windAffected, hard

Avalanche Conditions

avalancheConditionSnow

Weather

Sky Condition

brokenClouds

Temperature Trend

falling

Precipitation Type

snow

Snowpack

Depth

173

Obs Type

point

Site Aspect

SE

Site Elevation

1670

Ski Penetration

0

Test Initiation

easy

Foot Penetration

60

Test Failure Depth

29

Site Elevation Band

alp

Surface Conditions

crust

Test Failure Layer Crystal Types

facets, stormSnow

Dug a pit (my first one outside of a course, so forgive the errors) down to the ground at 175cm deep. This was an east-facing hill on the south face at 1670m. There was a frozen crust in the first couple centimetres, followed by about 3 feet of snow I could penetrate easily with my finger, then below that it was more consolidated and resistant to disruption. My compression test, unsurprisingly, didn't result in anything cracking or sliding (I picked a steeper knoll on the face, but it is still a low-angle slope that wouldn't typically avalanche), but I can report the top 30cm collapsing under a single hit from the elbow, and the next 30cm collapsing under 4 hits from the shoulder. Hopefully this plus the pictures can give those more educated than I some useful information despite the shallow slow this was done on. The overall mountain was variable conditions, with some deep pow, a lot of crust, some wind-swept icy parts, and some hardpack.