Observation Date: 12/06/2014

Route/Location:
Two days up in the Boulder Peak area. Skied low-angle trees off the ridge between Boulder Point and Boulder Peak, and checked out the steep bowls off the north side of the ridge.

Weather:
12/5 – Warm with low clouds, no precipitation
12/6 – A little bit colder, clear in the morning. Storm systems moved in by late morning, and gave way to gusty winds and intermittent snow.

Wind:
High gusty winds on 12/6. Old snow was too wet/heavy for transport, new snow was available for transport. Medium sized cornices on exposed ridges above 8500′.

New Snow: 0-3″

Avalanche Activity:
No natural activity observed. Lots of small pinwheels on steep slopes, probably from the last couple days of warm temps. Snow surface cooled off overnight (12/5-12/6), and made for good skiing above 8000′. Below 7500′ snow was warm and chunky, and made for interesting skiing. Patchy coverage not too far below that.

Pit on a SE aspect at 7800′ showed a ~90cm deep snowpack. ~5cm thick layer of medium-grained facets at ground. 2-3cm thick rain crust at 20 cm below surface. Ground facets failed at CT12 and ECT15, but did not fail during a Rutschblock test.

Pit on NE aspect at 8600′ showed deep (~180cm) snowpack. Snow well consolidated. Snow from last storm cycle failed at 10 cm below surface on ECT16 with no propagation.

Other Comments:

Observer: Daniel Perret