Steamboat & Flat Tops

Avalanche

Dan Edmiston · Dec 15, 2019 · Steamboat & Flat Tops

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Weather

calm winds, no precip but high clouds began to filter in mid-afternoon

Snowpack

Pit on N aspect ~8600ft, 140cms snow height. Storm slab was less reactive on Buff Pass than it was on Rabbit Ears yesterday. No localized cracking on skin track. Shovel tilt test showed a little more energy needed to get it to move. Hand shears in hasty pits showed more movement on 12/8 layer. Had mixed medium and hard results on column test, all resistant planar. Failure layers were near surface facets down 40-45cms that got buried on 12/8 failed CTMx2, had one CTH down 110cm on top of early November facets, had one CTM down ~100cms on a thin crust/facet layer probably also from early November. Overall the storm slab was settling and bonding a little better to the old snow surface. I wasn't able to get any propagation on ECTs yet despite this settling. ECTN18 down 45cms. Curious to see what the upcoming high pressure does to the slab on top of the 12/8 layer.

Avalanche

Observed steep (30-45 degree) south/southwest facing aspects (8200-9800ft) and did not see any natural activity. Skied N facing terrain up to about 30 degrees and found no immediate signs of instability, no whumphing or collapsing was observed.