Quick Min
Snowpackalex · Feb 24, 2021 · St. Mary
Quick report
- Weather
- warm, sunny
- Ride Type
- mellowSlopes, steepSlopes, denseTrees, openTrees
- Stayed Away
- steepSlopes
- Riding Quality
- amazing
- Snow Conditions
- deepPowder, powder, windAffected, hard
- Avalanche Conditions
- avalancheConditionSnow
We stayed away from consequential steep slopes but did continual test cuts on smaller low consequence steep slopes with no signs of instability, slab or loose snow avalanches. The wind slabs formed on N/NE facing slopes seemed to be more substantial than the storm slab problem. There was 300+ on a wind loaded NE facing (lee) slope at 2000m.
Snowpack
- Depth
- 300
- Obs Type
- point
- Site Aspect
- NE
- Test Fracture
- resistant
- Site Elevation
- 2000
- Test Initiation
- moderate
- Foot Penetration
- 50
- Test Failure Depth
- 40
- Site Elevation Band
- tln
- Surface Conditions
- crust
- Test Failure Layer Crystal Types
- stormSnow
40cm's of storm (pencil firmness windslab) snow on top of 30cm's of four finger facets (which appeared to be in a rounding process). Failure plane was at 40cm's and seemed to have well preserved stellars between the interfaces. In a compression test we had medium resistant results. In an extended column test it did not fully propagate but mirrored the compression test in initiation. I have dug in this spot before as a decision point for accessing another zone through a hazard corridor. I am wondering if I might be in a micro climate and might change my test location because this area has never been reflective of the forcast. This was on a NE facing slope at 2000m.