Steamboat & Flat Tops
AvalancheDan Edmiston · Jan 2, 2021 · Steamboat & Flat Tops
Weather
Terrain was in or near a low cloud ceiling all day. Light snow flurries. Temps were in the teens and light winds were out of the WSW. Ridge tops were a bit blustery
Snowpack
No evidence of woomphing or collapsing despite touring in a very similar area to last week where we had frequent collapses. Dug on a north aspect, 10600ft, HS 120cms. Got CTHx2 (RP) down 75cms. Was breaking at the top of the facet layer. Mid pack slab has stiffened to 1F on top of fist/4-finger facets. Despite a weak base and a stiff slab I wasn't able to get any propagation on my ECTs (ECTX x2). This weak layer may be better tested with a PST. Regardless of these encouraging results we stuck with our plan of skiing 30* slopes. Still not completely willing to trust a snowpack with the recently reported remote triggered slides and such poor structure.
Avalanche
None observed