Steamboat & Flat Tops

Snowpack

Cody M. Perry ยท Jan 30, 2014

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Weather

Overcast/Obscured sky's. Light to no wind. Air temps at -4c @1320. S-2 plus all day! -2c to -4c during tour. Limited visibility.

Snowpack

Great new storm load of snow at 27cm. Dug on a N-NE slope of 36 degrees at 9000ft. Snow surface temp's at -5.2c, T20 @ -4.8 (1320hrs). Ski penetration was just above boot ankle & boot pen at boot top. Snowpack shows an overall pattern of a consistent increase in density from the surface down however the new storm load was quite reactive today. The New snow/Old snow interface located this afternoon roughly 30cm below the surface produced, back to back consistent CT test results: CTE 2 Q1, sudden planers that popped from the columns during tests. One in particular fractured from cutting alone. Two ECT tests showed results on the same layer at ECTP#2. A prop saw test arrested only 18cm's up the interface but did not slide off the column. You can see where newer snow starting January 27th is resting on the older surface from early January, a visible layer. But their is a hard to feel crust on these east and north aspects in this area. The new storm snow is nice. Not so heavy, not so light showing coats of rime from the saturated air, remarkable cohesive.