January 19, 2011, Chair Peak
1/19/11
WA Snoqualmie Pass
2926
3
Good skiing today with anywhere from 1-8" above the rain crust. Dust on crust at pass level but above 4-4500 ft in the open, and with a smooth underlying surface (no avi debris) there were nice turns. Crust ranges from mostly supportive to supportive to very supportive depending on aspect and elevation. New snow bond to the crust isn't that great with easily triggered sluffs on steeper slopes. Wind was moving good on the higher ridges from the NW with spindrift off the NE buttress and N face of Chair. Two climbers triggered a small 8" x 30 ft wide slab on a steep wind loaded slope just below the N face of chair but at lower elevations out of the wind the snow was not cohesive or slabby. Sun crusts probably formed on solar aspects today and there was some natural solar induced activity on steep slopes. There is an impressive full depth slide that ran during the storm on the north facing slopes below Chair down to what looked like rock slab. Many of the creeks blew out, watch out for holes!
We were up there today. Headed lookers left at thumb tack and up basin under east face. Found 4-6" of wind buffed goodness in basin. Minor sluffing and windslab in basin but no propagation. Sun affected snow from basin back to source lake was not great, but better than I would have thought based on the past weeks weather.
author=ski_photomatt link=topic=19131.msg81107#msg81107 date=1295492016]
Good skiing today with anywhere from 1-8" above the rain crust. Dust on crust at pass level but above 4-4500 ft in the open, and with a smooth underlying surface (no avi debris) there were nice turns. Crust ranges from mostly supportive to supportive to very supportive depending on aspect and elevation. New snow bond to the crust isn't that great with easily triggered sluffs on steeper slopes.
Good report and ditto, mostly. I'd disagree about the new snow bond. I thought that the rain crust-snow bond was generally decent, but rather that the new snow itself was dry and cohesionless, and that made skinning a bastard. Sloughs were easy to trigger, but fairly slow moving.
I saw the beginnings of some surface hoar down low, mainly in the trees, although that was probably largely destroyed by tree drips or sun (on solar aspects). I'd expect more to form tonight, and this all to change rapidly once we have another foot on the crust.
Nice day, overall.
author=ski_photomatt link=topic=19131.msg81107#msg81107 date=1295492016]http://vimeo.com/19006848
Good skiing today above 4-4500 ft in the open, and with a smooth underlying surface (no avi debris) there were nice turns.
Reply to this TR
Please login first: