Professional Observation

Observation Details

Signs of Unstable Snow

Snow Stability

Bottom Line

Today we toured outside of Snowbowl ski resort to point six and down to Jenny Bowl. We found 3" to 5" of new light density snow with strong winds out of the SW. We sought small test slopes along ridge tops to investigate possible wind slabs. We found reactive 1-2ft deep drifts on ridge tops' east and northeast aspects. On the road cut below summit Point, Six, we found 1-foot chunks of debris. Most likely falling off naturally early this morning from freshly formed wind lips.
We dug our pit at 7800ft on an NNE aspect. It was wind-effected with a stiff wind slab on top. We had propagation in two extended column tests, 5 inches down (12cm) on .2mm facets. We decided not to ski this slope and chose to ski terrain less than 30° without wind loading.
The danger was increasing in this location from continued wind loading and snowfall. More snow is forecast to continue through tonight and Tuesday.