Steamboat & Flat Tops
AvalancheKreston Rohrig · Dec 11, 2019 · Steamboat & Flat Tops
Weather
The day started with a wicked inversion, valley temps were 2F when I got to town. Clouds were building throughout the day with calm winds below treeline.
Snowpack
This wasn't the worst snowpack I've seen this year, but certainly wasn't the best either. With around a meter of snow on the ground below treeline on north facing slopes, the snowpack is developing but has many hidden weak layers. The most notable is a 35 cm facet layer near the ground. Propagating ECTs failed below an older crust layer that capped the basal facets. Above the crust was a stiff mid-pack slab and a buried layer of surface hoar. Some of these layers seem to be healing but widespread surface hoar on the snow surface is likely to get buried in the next round of storms and add to the complexity.
Avalanche
None observed