Whumpfs and Hoar

Quick report

Weather

sunny, cold

Ride Type

openTrees

Riding Quality

good

Snow Conditions

powder

Avalanche Conditions

avalancheConditionSound

Went for an adventure slog into some new zones, cold clear weather has started forming surface hoar up to 30mm-40mm on all aspects above 1600m—1950m, and smaller SH to valley bottom averaging 4-9mm which did provide some great turns but will have to be watched once buried. On ridge line the wind affect was surprisingly minimal but we observed a few whumpfs on west aspects where the snow was starting to form a more cohesive slabs and hand shears showed planar results 20cm down on the Jan.23 SH. For north and east aspects the new snow was still lacking slab properties, but we had CT-24 SP down 90cm and ECT-X at 1700m N aspect. We rode some more open trees into a gully down a NE aspect and got great turns right from 1950m back to 800m with no movement except the large SH sloughing.

Weather

Wind Speed

windSpeedCalm

Blowing Snow

none

Sky Condition

clear

Precipitation Type

none

Snowpack

Obs Type

point

Site Aspect

N

Test Fracture

sudden

Site Elevation

1700

Ski Penetration

20

Test Initiation

hard

Foot Penetration

40

Test Failure Depth

90

Site Elevation Band

tln

Surface Conditions

surfaceHoar

Whumpfing Observed

1

Test Failure Layer Crystal Types

surfaceHoar

Early January SH layer had no reaction, the planar break down at 90cm may be the early December SH layer.