Public Observation

Observation Details

Signs of Unstable Snow

Observations

About an inch of fresh snow. Strong, consistent north winds were scouring north-facing slopes and transporting snow to south-facing slopes above 7500'. Very breakable crust to very firm ski surface. On the north-facing slopes we skied, all the new snow has been transported off of those slopes (even in the trees) onto south-facing slopes. North, Northwest, and South facing slopes above treeline (~ 8200') were all very firm. If the strong winds continue, wind slabs should be a concern and have a strong potential of forming. During our ski today, we did not observe any signs of instability but the weather and skiing were not improving and we did see signs of wind loading (e.g. rippled snow surface and transporting snow) so we cut our day short.