Steamboat & Flat Tops

Snowpack

Jason Konigsberg · Dec 30, 2017 · Steamboat & Flat Tops

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Weather

I wasn't near ridgetop but the wind was cranking at all elevations. Little evidence of recent wind-drifted snow.

Snowpack

The snowpack on northerly slopes at around 10k ft is about a meter deep. The snowpack structure is poor to fair with moderate to hard propagating results in extended column tests. The layer of concern is about 18 inches down and consists of fist-hard 1 mm facets. There was some broken surface hoar around this layer. I did not find any intact surface hoar layers in my travels. Collapsing was heard while walking through open areas.---Underneath the above-mentioned layer of concern is harder layers of mostly depth hoar. The depth hoar is showing signs of strength.