Snow surface obs

CB Avalanche Center2015-16 Observations

Location: Kebler Pass Area
Date of Observation: 11/23/2015
Name: Zach Guy
Subject: Snow surface obs
Aspect: North East, East, South
Elevation: 10,000 -13,000 ft

Avalanches: No signs of instability observed across multiple slopes and aspects.
Weather: Few to scattered thin clouds. Light west winds. Mild temps.
Snowpack: Traveled across a variety of aspects above and below treeline to observe current snow surface. South aspects became moist yesterday at all elevations. Surfaces are quite firm above treeline and weak below treeline, consisting of:
-Pencil hard melt-freeze crusts (11/16 crust exposed due to scouring) on scoured south or southeast aspects ATL
-1F or pencil hard, small grained, wind packed rounds (wind board or old windslabs) on all aspects ATL, anywhere that winds had drifted or deposited snow, especially in gullies or rollovers ATL. This is the predominant snow surface above treeline right now.
-4F faceting sastrugi on scoured features on all aspects ATL. Became moist on southerly aspects.
-Fist hard 1 to 1.5 mm facets make up the entire snowpack on shaded aspects below treeline, with some decomposing graupel at the surface. Snow depth was less than 12″ BTL.