CAIC Observation Report

Quick report

Ryan Sorenson · Jan 9, 2026 · Big Horns

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Observation photo 1

Weather

It was lightly snowing (S1) throughout the day. None to very light SE winds. air temp (F): 7; cloud cover: broken; wind loading: none; recent snowfall (cm): 26; snow avail for transport: moderate amounts

Snowpack

We found the 4 to 10 inches of fresh snow from the recent storm to be light and undisturbed on this east-facing slope. The lower third of the slope has significantly less snow with sagebrush poking through. We dug one pit at 8,891 feet at the edge of an opening in the trees with a total depth of 31 inches (80 cm). The fresh snow sits on a reactive layer of near-surface facets; however, in this area, there wasn't a slab. The snowpack sits on 4 inches (12 cm) of basel facets that did propagate with harder taps (28).