Test pit results from HBMR

Is this a point observation or a summary of your day?

Point observation

Elevation above sea level

1,620m

Elevation band

• Treeline

Aspect

• E

Snowpack depth

187cm

Foot penetration

5cm

Snowpack test fracture character

Sudden (`pop` or `drop`)

Snowpack test failure depth

85cm

Surface conditions

• New snow

Snowpack test failure layer crystal type

• Surface hoar

Nice to get back in a pit after some truly windy days. Highly variable HS at treeline with wind transport. Generally seems that we have had ~30 cm of wind transported snow onto lee aspects in the last 24-48 hrs here at HBMR.

We had no results from ski cuts this morning on a similar aspect + elevation.

Surprising to see the consolidation of the upper 80 cm of the snowpack. Despite a small change in hardness ~30 cm down, we observed a pencil-hard slab from just below the surface to 80 cm.

For snowpack tests:

ECTX (on two attempts)

STV (SP) down 85 on SH 6.0 and FC 1.0

We also noted that the two basal crust layers are thick (crust #1 from 110 to 118 and crust #2 from 128 to 145) with sugar between and to ground below.

We'll continue to keep an eye on how things evolve up here..