Steamboat & Flat Tops
SnowpackBrian Gardel · Dec 30, 2018 · Steamboat & Flat Tops
Weather
Very cold with a light breeze out of the West. Skies were clear in the morning and turning cloudy by the afternoon.
Snowpack
We dug a pit on NNE aspect at 10,500ft on a 33deg slope. HS 130cm. The most notable layer was a widespread small facet layer buried beneath a paper thin freeze layer @35cm. We also noted the same paper thin freeze layer on W aspects, on open and sheltered slopes, at both near and above treeline. I think this may be the 12/21/2018 fog/mist freeze event that was first observed in the Bitch Creek area of Buffalo Pass on 12/22/2018, and subsequently noted by Eric Haskell on on 12/27/18, and most recently by Jason Konigsberg on Hahn's Peak. Compression test results were CT14Q1 & CT15Q1 @35cm failing on the small facets beneath the paper thin freeze layer, and CT27Q3 @ around 80cm on loose facets near the ground. Extended column test was non-reactive (ECTX). Ski cut on steep N facing, no results We sawed off a small car sized cornice on a steep North facing slope triggering a large, fast moving point release on steep terrain that ran 1,100ft (full track) to valley bottom. Along the way, the point release also releasing small pockets of slabs in steep shallow rocky terrain. Cornices are getting larger, denser, stouter, more anchored, and harder to trigger than what we've seen over the last three weeks. Noted lots of wind-drifts behind trees and rock features, smooth wind slabs on the lee side of ridges, and gullies getting cross-loaded. Also noted several collapses along our tour, but no cracking.