Observation Date: 03/14/2016
Route/Location:
North east side mountain to aprox. 8000′. Skis on/off 5900′.
Weather:
From blizzard to sun.
Wind:
High winds aloft from west / north west I was in lee since in east northeast area. Some gusts.
New Snow: 3-6″
Avalanche Activity:
None observed. I was in low angle terrain. 40/ 8500′ that had not avalanched.
Other Comments:
Climbing up on skis was fine from 6000′- 6800′ but unconsolidated. Pole penetration deep. My partner,Bonnie(dog) was post holeing. Did quite a few small pole/hand/column pits to 8000′ . Quite a few melt,freeze,rain layers. Most reactive layer at 7500′ ,16″ down between frozen layers( CTPV) Also less reactive at about 10″. New snow was bonding well to upper crust. New snow was 2″ at 6000′ , 8 ” at 8000″. Skiing down was quite nice. Lower down dust on supportable crust . Today didnt need steep slope for good skiing. The weak layer I observed might slide with new snow or wind loading.
Observer: Janiec G