Public Observation

Observation Details

Signs of Unstable Snow

Observations

I went on a short tour today with my dog. I got up to the pass around 11:00 am and it was a rather balmy 39ºF. I took a lap down a steepish N/NW facing aspect and feasted on some delicious hot pow. While skiing down, I felt uneasy due to the heavy powder sitting on top of allegedly rounding facets. I listened to my gut and curiosity and dug a quick CT. Upon isolating the column, it flew into my lap. Due to the touchy nature of the CT, I wanted to check for propagation and got a fairly hasty ECTP19, which also flew into my lap. The CT and ECT failed about 2' down on what I think was buried surface hoar; sorry, I didn't pull out my lense to check. I'm not sure how widespread this buried weak layer is at Lolo Pass, but it is something to keep in mind with the incoming storm tonight/tomorrow.
On a side note, I've been up skiing around G Spot in the past week or two a few times and have found the buried weak layers to be unreactive and rounding. The new inch or so of SWE we received since Wednesday accompanied by wind and warmth has added stress to the buried weak layers. It would be interesting to dig more pits nearby to see if the spot I dug in was an anomaly or something more widespread. Totally surprising pit results nonetheless.