- Submitted by
- Ryan Shelly
- Observations date
- Saturday, December 8, 2018 at 23:37
- Location
- 54.896900° N 120.917210° W
- Reporting on
- Snow conditions
%2F-120.91721%2C54.8969%2C8%2C0%2C0%2F1026x200%3Faccess_token%3Dpk.eyJ1IjoiYXZhbGFuY2hlY2FuYWRhIiwiYSI6ImNqd2dvZmUxdzE4ZWg0M2tkaXpuNG95aTQifQ.pBLM87fE3sIxRJqJT7Bf7g&w=1200&q=75 "Core lodge")
Snow conditions
- Riding quality was:
- OK
- Snow conditions were:
- Crusty
- Powder
- Wind affected
- We rode:
- Alpine slopes
- Mellow slopes
- Open trees
- Sunny slopes
- We stayed away from:
- Convex slopes
Information
- The day was:
- Cold
- Warm
- Avalanche conditions
- Rapid temperature rise to near or above 0°C or wet surface snow.
Comments
Air temp in a.m. was -17. Mid day high was closer to -3.
Wind transport continued in Alpine areas with shallow windward slopes at times exposed to ground and up to 70cm depth in leeward aspects.
Main concern is surface hoar growth (4-8mm) (see photo) growing in leeward zones and laminated crust that holds a facet layer in between (see snow profile photo, also attached) This facet/crusts interface provided moderated SP compression test results and could remain a concern in the future. Having said that this laminated crust provided 0 results (ECTX) during extended column test in an isolated leeward location at 4,500 ft of elevation.
Surface hoar is not yet buried and is therefore still growing until next storm cycle. Be conscientious of this as it is located in Silversands and may be prevalent throughout North Rockies at this time and could remain a reactive basal layer for a good part of the winter season.
