January 3
Area:
Upper Millcreek, Lambs
Location:
Mill D to Little Water to Murdock-Lambs return
Elevations, slope angles and aspects:
7500-9400’, angles to 40°+, all aspects
Avalanches:
None
Slopes skied:
Little Water, rolly polly, northwest facing west shoulder of Murdock into Lambs, rolly polly and west facing Powder park.
Snow surface and conditions:
Variable. Scattered sun crusts at mid and lower elevations, some melted during the day. Upper elevations were wind damaged especially near the ridges with bith shallow wind drifts on north and east facing and scoured on north and west facing. Mid elevations retain damp recrystalized powder. There is a thin wind skin over much of the settled snow. Mid and lower elevation shady received enough heating to produce a damp surface. Ski cutting the shallow drifts indicated they were locked in place.
Weather:
Partly cloudy to overcast skies. Winds from the west and southwest gusting into the 20 mph range. Mild temperatures.
Snow Pit:
Evaluation:
Snow is stable in the area traveled through. We did get an isolated collapse or two traveling though one of the meadows. This was the result of dense snow overlying the rim facet combo. No collapses on hillsides. I’d expect good stability to continue. Bonding of new snow to old snow surfaces is unknown but with continued warm temperatures prior to the storm I’d expect some bonds. The current predicted snow amounts would likely produce localized hazard from facet collapse.
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