Steamboat & Flat Tops
SnowpackBrian Gardel · Jan 11, 2019 · Steamboat & Flat Tops
Weather
Overcast and lightly snowing all morning. Precipitation < 1" accumulation by the time we left at 2pm. Temps in the low to mid 20's.
Snowpack
We dug a snowpit on an East facing 30* slope below treeline @ 9,500ft and found 110-130cm of total snow depth, with 30cm of high-density settled storm snow from earlier in the week. Compression test results were CT2-Q2 @ 10cm within the last storm layer, and CT11-Q2 @ 30cm at the new/old snow interface. A shovel shear test produced a clean shear with easy/moderate force @ 65cm on a layer of small facets. Extended column tests resulted in an ECTX in one of our pits, and on an adjacent pit just a few feet away we got ECTP-24 @ 110cm on a 2-3mm mix of facets and rounds at the basal layer. We noted no collapsing or cracking throughout our tour. Skiing conditions were decent but a touch variable due to breakable wind crusts in spots.