Zone: Northwest Mountains
Location: Hancock
Date of Observation: 11/30/2020
Name: Zach Guy
Subject: Like skinning in a sandbox
Aspect: North East, East, South West
Elevation: 9,600 – 12,400′
Avalanches:
None today.
Weather: Clear skies, mild temps, moderate westerly winds
Snowpack: We found good stability on steep terrain and noted plenty of weak layers on the snow surface for future problems. Several pits on NE aspects targeting persistent slab concerns were unreactive. In previously wind loaded areas(HS~90 cm), the basal facets show signs of being stronger, harder, and smaller grained now, and were also discontinous due to talus on the ground. In previously wind-scoured or shallow areas areas, the snowpack is quite weak (Fist hard, 1mm facets) but no slab. Snow surfaces consist of widespread .5mm near surface facets on northerly aspects, occasionally capped by a thin wind crust that produced clean shears and cracking. On southerly aspects, the surface is melt-freeze crusts of varying hardness with small grained facets above and/or below. It is hard to find a slope where there isn’t a PWL on the surface, except for the ones that have melted out to dirt. No signs of instability today on slopes up to 40 degrees.
Photos:
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- An example from a slope where the snowpack is shallow (due to previous wind erosion), and subsequently, very weak, but not currently a problem because it lacks a slab.
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- An example of a slope harboring old October snow and a slab above it, but the layer is unreactive in tests
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- An example of a windloaded slope where there is a slab, but no weak layer below it: just a stable snowpack.
