February 25

Alta-Mill B South

Elevations, slope angles and aspects

6500-10800', angles approaching 40°, all aspects.

Snow conditions

Warm temperatures, sun and wind have all affected the snow. There are some areas of soft and settled in sheltered areas. Otherwise, sun crusts wind crusts wind pack and boilerplate were found. Most is skiable, depending on the desire for doing so. Temperatures warmed enough during the day to melt crusts below about 8500', providing snow cone snow skiing at mid and lower elevations in the afternoon.

Looking at glide in Mill B and Broads. Free water appeared to have iced back up.

slab-ice

Open glide cracks are showing creep

glide-crack

with fragile snow bridges

snow-bridge

lingering over some of the cracks. One recent avalanche was observed, debris below the blue ice, timing unknown, but I suspect it was a day or two old.

blue-ice

Weather

Partly cloudy skies lasted a few hours before thickening to overcast. A few flakes were observed, falling from the sky. No accumulation. Winds were from the west, gusting over 30 mph. Temperatures, out of the wind, were mild.

Evaluation

Stable snow was found on all aspects at all elevations. Some isolated active wind drifts may be found with perseverance. Warming was limited and no recent wet activity was observed. Future instability would be dependent on bonding of any significant snow with the old surface.

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February 25 journal

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