Steamboat & Flat Tops
Quick reportBrian Gardel · Feb 26, 2026 · Steamboat & Flat Tops
Weather
Overcast in the morning, partly cloudy in the afternoon. Mod/strong W/NW winds on Soda in the AM, calm mid-day in Bitch Creek. No precipitation, but plenty of wind to transport snow. Temps were in the low twenties on Soda, mid- to upper-twenties in Bitch Creek.
Snowpack
All aspects below 9500 had a stout 1cm breakable crust in the AM. The top of Soda Mtn had large wind drifts across the road. Upper elevation N had lots of wind effect and a windboard surface with minimal ski pen resting over softer snow. Upper NW slopes appeared cross loaded. The latest storm snow appeared well bonded to the old surface, except in Bitch creek where I got easy propagation (ECTP4 @ 15cm down) on a density change at the new/old. ECTs on Soda had propagating results on PWLs in Ebut (ECTP26 @ 40cm down, failing on .5mm NSF) and Eye Opener (ECTP23, 27 @ ~70cm down, failing on 1-2mm FC below a stout 5-7cm MFcr).
Avalanche
None observed