Island Alpine Guides, AST1 course Mt. Washington

Quick report

Ride Type

mellowSlopes, denseTrees

Stayed Away

convexSlopes, alpineSlopes, steepSlopes

Riding Quality

good

Snow Conditions

powder

Weather

Max Temp

-3

Min Temp

-6

Wind Speed

windSpeedLight

Blowing Snow

none

Sky Condition

fewClouds

Wind Direction

SE

New Snow24 Hours

10

Temperature Trend

steady

Precipitation Type

none

Precipitation24 Hours

10

Snowpack

Depth

120

Obs Type

point

Site Aspect

W

Test Fracture

sudden

Ski Penetration

18

Test Initiation

moderate

Foot Penetration

40

Site Elevation Band

tln

Surface Conditions

newSnow, surfaceHoar

Test Failure Layer Crystal Types

facets, crust

Three different shears with compression test. CT11 down 11cm on graupel (that's the newest snow from past 24 hours), sudden planar. CT12 sudden planar down 25cm on facets above crust (this is the one where the avalanches in the past 3 days were observed), CT22 down 40 cm on major 10cm thick crust. This lower layer on the crust is a much harder shear and the pack seems to start bonding well to this crust. Judging by the size of this crust I would expect a bridging effect to come into play to protect us from the facets that seem to still be lurking near the bottom of the pack. The shear down 25cm should give us the most headache for the time being, if unsupported, steep slopes should be chosen (don't!).