March 25, 2006, Snow pits Commonwealth Basin
3/25/06
WA Snoqualmie Pass
2215
0
A surprizingly nice day to ski in Commonwealth. Conditions were quite stable and we made it to the saddle between Snoqualmie and Lundin. We got to ski some chutes that are rarely safe. The report from our on-board snow scientist:
about 3 to 6 inches of
fresh snow (well, dendrites mixed with columns and needles), then a
melt freeze crust, then a rather consolidated layer, just above a
layer of facets starting to round and on the very bottom some larger
depth hoar grains (1 to 1.5 mm or so). The temp was 30 F from top to
bottom. We didn't take an air temp-darn it! Stable enough to make
some fun turns with a little sluffiness on top and light east winds
wet-bulb cooling the temp at our surface to yield dendrites! Thank
you light east winds! -- J. Holcombe, NOAA.
In summary, some excellent fresh snow, ontop of a firm, yet carvable crust, on top of 4-5 feet of firm, well-consolidated snow, on top of 1-2 feet+ of loose, wet, faceted sno-cone material. As the upper pack deteriorates, this lower layer seems like something to watch.
Rutchblock withstood hard jump wtih little movement, except some minor slippage of the new snow. Shear and compression tests all quite stable.
Evidence from last week's slides during warm rain provide an important lesson for this valley. This area is a treasure trove of avi trigger, collection, and runout areas. Slide debris covered a number of lower slopes that were well-treed, low-angle, and looked fun and safe in isolation. It can be hard to detect chutes that convey slides from the upper slopes and even more tricky to predict the runout. Be careful out there.
about 3 to 6 inches of
fresh snow (well, dendrites mixed with columns and needles), then a
melt freeze crust, then a rather consolidated layer, just above a
layer of facets starting to round and on the very bottom some larger
depth hoar grains (1 to 1.5 mm or so). The temp was 30 F from top to
bottom. We didn't take an air temp-darn it! Stable enough to make
some fun turns with a little sluffiness on top and light east winds
wet-bulb cooling the temp at our surface to yield dendrites! Thank
you light east winds! -- J. Holcombe, NOAA.
In summary, some excellent fresh snow, ontop of a firm, yet carvable crust, on top of 4-5 feet of firm, well-consolidated snow, on top of 1-2 feet+ of loose, wet, faceted sno-cone material. As the upper pack deteriorates, this lower layer seems like something to watch.
Rutchblock withstood hard jump wtih little movement, except some minor slippage of the new snow. Shear and compression tests all quite stable.
Evidence from last week's slides during warm rain provide an important lesson for this valley. This area is a treasure trove of avi trigger, collection, and runout areas. Slide debris covered a number of lower slopes that were well-treed, low-angle, and looked fun and safe in isolation. It can be hard to detect chutes that convey slides from the upper slopes and even more tricky to predict the runout. Be careful out there.
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