Steamboat & Flat Tops

Snowpack

Brian Gardel · Dec 23, 2018 · Steamboat & Flat Tops

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Weather

12/22/2018: Hahn's Peak Lake area. Overcast and snowing (light/moderate) through the morning. Windy along the highway, but calm as soon as we gained elevation. Temps in the teens. 12/23/2018: Little Agnes Mountain. Mix of clouds and blue skies. No precip. Moderate winds from the West at ridgeline. Cold temps in the valley (-12F along the Elk and around 0F at Seedhouse trailhead @ 9:30am) and warmer as we gained elevation (20F by noon below the Little A/Beaver saddle).

Snowpack

12/22/2018: Hahn's Peak Lake area @ 10,000ft, East aspect, 32deg slope. HS 95cm. HSN 15cm. Most problematic layer was loose facets observed at 60cm at the Thanksgiving interface that was reactive to shear and compression tests. ECT yielded no result. 12/23/2018: Little Agnes Mountain. West aspect, 10,400ft. HS 110-120cm. Buried surface hoar layer @ 30cm reactive to stability tests (CT3 Q1) and ECT(NP) 15, and good snow structure below that. Moderate wind from the West moving snow across the ridge loading East & North aspects. Cornices doubled in size from last week and were fairly tender. Cornice drops into steep East aspect with no results.