April 13
Broads-Mill B south
Elevation, slope angles and aspects
6500-10900', angles over 40°, north facing aspects
Snow conditions
A good refreeze provided supportable snow in the morning, from the trail head. Dense soft snow was found above about 10k. The clear skies and cool temperatures also formed a little surface hoar
at the upper elevations. Sublimation also dried the dense storm snow. Pools of graupel were found in several locations, lower slope angles, below rock bands or steeper slopes. There was up to about a foot of graupel puddled.
Crusts, formed yesterday, softened with warming, providing good snocone conditions to around 8500' on descent. Below that elevation, smushy to the road in the afternoon.
Glide slides
Four glide slides were observed in Broads.
One of those, south of the diving board was from last Friday. The rest were more recent. Sunday afternoon?
Pocket just south of Bonkers.
Zoomed
Larger glide north of the diving board.
Close up of the diving boad glide.
The classic repeater pocket north of the blue ice.
Zoomed
There was another small glide on the north east facing in Mill B south, well down the shoulder of Dromedary.
Weather
Beautiful spring day with gradually warming temperatures and little wind.
Evaluation
Stable snow in the am, with instabilities increasing as the day warmed. Limited to point release wet activity but, I got outta Broads early, so further glide may have occurred. Weather guessers have a large storm on the horizon, with rain-snow line forecast at over 9000'. Would expect some limited wet activity and glide until cooling. New storm snow instabilities, forecast amounts over 2', will be dependent on bonding with the old surface, density changes within the new snow, wind and periods of day time heating.
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