Steamboat & Flat Tops
AvalancheJason Konigsberg · Nov 30, 2016 · Steamboat & Flat Tops
Weather
Snow flurries at times with skies obscured for the majority of the morning.
Snowpack
The snowpack depth is 80 to 90 cms in the Buffalo Pass area. In the two below treeline spots that we dug, we found a progressively harder snowpack, from fist to one-finger hardness, down to about 15cms from the ground. At this depth there was a thin surface hoar layer followed by 15cms of very small facets. In two extended column tests, a crack propagated through the column in the surface hoar layer. It was hard to initiate this crack as it took over 20 shovel taps. It is uncertain as to the distribution of this weak layer and Persistent Slab structure, but it is definitely something to monitor. The snowpit where ECTs were performed is a northwest aspect.
Avalanche
No sign of any avalanche activity. After fieldwork I drove up towards Columbine and Hahns Peak and still did not see any avalanche activity, although visibility was limited.