Steamboat & Flat Tops
SnowpackAndrew McWilliams Austin DiVesta · Dec 20, 2023 · Steamboat & Flat Tops
Weather
Broken skies and temperatures near freezing with calm winds.
Snowpack
We traveled below treeline and snow coverage was poor limiting us to the road or close to it. Like most other places in the Northern Mountains, the primary layer of concern was the basal facet layer. We found propagating results on this layer in Extended Column Tests, but only after taps from the shoulder. The buried surface hoar layer we've also seen in many areas across the north was present here as well. We found grains up to 10mm in size preserved about 10cm beneath the surface. There was also surface hoar formation at the snow surface. The buried surface hoar layer was unreactive in snowpit tests, but could be a future layer of concern. The weak surface snow could also become a layer of concern with the next storm. We found no cracking or collapsing in the snowpack and easterly test slopes were unreactive.