December 20
Grizzly Gulch-Silver Fork-Meadows
Elevations, slope angles and aspects
7800-10k, angles over 35°, all aspects
Snow conditions
Winds were the theme for the day.
A coupla inches of new found here and there, mostly well down off the ridges, on trails and in the meadows of Silver Fork. The rest was either scoured to crusts or drifted into hard slab. Ski penetration was at or near the surface with, foot penetration to the ground. Collapsing was muffled and infrequent.
Snow pit testing produced an easy shear below dense snow in a faceted layer formed on December 11? The faceted snow under the rain crust is bridged by this new weakness, producing a moderate shear in the Meadow chutes.
facets under crust
Weather
Overcast with a few flakes, difficult to distinguish from wind blown. Winds were from the wnw, gusting over 40 mph and decreasing by afternoon. Late afternoon partial clearing. Cool temperatures.
Snow pit
Evaluation
Well, hell, let's just add another few layers to the complexity. Stability is marginal. Instabilities will range from shallow new snow wind drifts to large full depth avalanching on buried weak layering. A cap or bridge has now been placed on the surface by the strong wind, making predictability more difficult.
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