Steamboat & Flat Tops
AvalancheJeff Walsh · Feb 23, 2019 · Steamboat & Flat Tops
Weather
Sunny from 10 a.m. to about 11:30 a.m. Overcast therafter. Approximately 10 degrees. Very mild wind. Traveled from 8,000 feet up to 9,000 feet.
Snowpack
Dug pit on west facing aspect of Soda Mountain at 8,900 feet. Snow pack depth was 180 cm. The top 10 cm of snow was very light fluff, typical Steamboat Champagne Powder. But just beneath that light snow, 10 cm down, was a hard crust layer (pencil to penetrate) that was 1 cm thick. The next 20 cm down (i.e. beneath the crust) was one finger to penetrate, and the next 20 cm below that was four fingers to penetrate. Underneath that, the snow was very dense and firm, probably 1 finger or pencil to penetrate. Only dug down about 4 feet. Compression test yielded an easy fracture at CT7 on a layer 19 cm down from the surface. The was repeated on a second compression test. Did not have card or magnifying glass, so did not try to evaluate if this layer was buried surface hoar or facets etc. Slope angle was 21 degrees. Fracture character was sudden planar. Then got a non-planar, irregular fracture at CT 14, 35 cm down from the surface. No results after that. Conducted ECT with no obvious propogation. Not sure this means much since slope was only 21 degrees. Wind was very mild. No whoomping or cracking during the tour.
Avalanche
None observed.