Gunnison
Snowpack- - · Jan 24, 2014 · Gunnison
Snowpack
Level 2 course went to the base of Coney's today for profile demos. Here is what we found:
Profile dug in the valley bottom below Coneys. Clear skies and warm temps near freezing in the sun, dropping quickly as the slope went into the shade. Light down valley winds from the North with no snow transport.
Profile showed 115 cm of snow with mostly faceted grains. Surface hoar and near surface facets on the surface. At 80 cm and again 70 cm there was a prominent 1 cm thick layer of buried surface hoar. These were our layers of most concern. Below the surface hoar was 4 finger to 1 finger hard faceted snow with a 16cm thick layer of rounding depth hoar at 4 finger + hardness near the ground.
Snowpack test results included: Compression Test Moderate, Sudden Collapse on the buried surface hoar at 80-81 cm. (CTM17, SC)
Extended Column Test Propagated across the entire column at 23 hits, Sudden Collapse on buried surface hoar at 80-81 cm. (ECTP23, SC)
Propagation Saw Test failed at 12 cm's propagating to the end of the column. (PST12/100(End)) on the buried surface hoar a 80-81 cm.
We also experience two small collapses in the open meadow which we attributed to the surface hoar layer as well.
Interesting to find these surface hoar layers, and would have been interesting to see if they were higher up in the ski terrain, but alas we ran out of time.
Profile dug in the valley bottom below Coneys. Clear skies and warm temps near freezing in the sun, dropping quickly as the slope went into the shade. Light down valley winds from the North with no snow transport.
Profile showed 115 cm of snow with mostly faceted grains. Surface hoar and near surface facets on the surface. At 80 cm and again 70 cm there was a prominent 1 cm thick layer of buried surface hoar. These were our layers of most concern. Below the surface hoar was 4 finger to 1 finger hard faceted snow with a 16cm thick layer of rounding depth hoar at 4 finger + hardness near the ground.
Snowpack test results included: Compression Test Moderate, Sudden Collapse on the buried surface hoar at 80-81 cm. (CTM17, SC)
Extended Column Test Propagated across the entire column at 23 hits, Sudden Collapse on buried surface hoar at 80-81 cm. (ECTP23, SC)
Propagation Saw Test failed at 12 cm's propagating to the end of the column. (PST12/100(End)) on the buried surface hoar a 80-81 cm.
We also experience two small collapses in the open meadow which we attributed to the surface hoar layer as well.
Interesting to find these surface hoar layers, and would have been interesting to see if they were higher up in the ski terrain, but alas we ran out of time.