CAIC Observation Report

Snowpack

Susan Hale ยท Nov 11, 2011

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Weather

Scattered clouds, but increasing during tour & building from the south. Mostly cloudy by end of tour. Winds light - expected windier conditions.

Snowpack

Junk. Still very shallow (except in wind-loaded features ATL). Generally, pack has settled lots since the earlier avi cycle. Coverage is becoming patchy again on E-S aspects. Glades on Red 3 west aspect: Areas in thicker trees downright treacherous due to poor coverage. In some of these protected cold aspects, snow is becoming less and less supportive, however (where there's enough snow) still detect slab qualities that might need just a little more weight. Open areas: Wind slab or firmer snow with nice 6" pow on top. Watch out for any steep zones. Seems it is still possible to trigger a slab. Discovered a significant slide that must have occurred AFTER the 11/5 cycle - as we were looking at this aspect on the 6th and it was still intact. See avalanche obs.