RMR Backcountry Snowstudy Practice
Quick reportmoritz.altenbach · Dec 12, 2025 · Central Selkirk
Snowpack
- Depth
- 167
- Obs Type
- point
- Site Aspect
- W
- Test Fracture
- unevenBreak
- Site Elevation
- 2238
- Ski Penetration
- 30
- Test Initiation
- moderate
- Foot Penetration
- 70
- Test Failure Depth
- 60
- Site Elevation Band
- tln
- Surface Conditions
- newSnow
- Test Failure Layer Crystal Types
- facets, crust, stormSnow
Went to the RMR backcountry to look a bit into the snow and get an idea of the recent storm patterns. Found a spot around treeline for a profile which was characterized by moderate windloading. We were searching for the mighty surface hoar but only found the November crusts and some facets around them. ECT broke without propagation in the new storm snow layers at ECTN27@135cm and ECTN30@126. A shovel tilt after the test let the block slide smoothly below the 67-68cm crust and broke the block smoothly below the 107-108 cm crust, indicating that the weakness might indeed be still active in shallower conditions or during breakdown avalanches. We found some facets below both crusts.