Public Observation

Observation Details

Signs of Unstable Snow

Observations

Dug a pit at the top of Gash Headwall. 25 degrees, broken sun, intermittent light snow, calm. 8100 ft elevation, east-facing 29-degree slope.

Snow density: F down 18 cm (to melt-freeze crust), 4F to about 70 cm, then 1F to 100 cm, then P. Very right-side-up snowpack. Pit results: ECTN-23, with non-planar fracture at 35-cm depth. Repeated on the other side of the pit and got ECTX. Deep probing with a shovel produced a non-planar fracture at 60-cm depth (about where density changed from 4F to 1F. See photo.

We skied the 40-degree headwall and observed surface sloughing.