November 28
West Willow-Dutches
Elevations, slope angles and aspects
7800-10200, angles over 35°, all aspects
Snow conditions
1 to 3" of new snow over a variable base. New snow was dense, around 10%, with some small graupel. A little surface sluffing on the steeps, otherwise well bonded. The old surface, still around 8k, was a mixed bag, consisting of old crusts, hard and soft, loose faceted and dirt. Recrystalized continues it's progression down through old layering at a slow pace. Old snow remains mostly supportable except in scattered shallow, rocky locations. Sheltered and shady provide good skiing.
Weather
Overcast skies, spits and sputters of snow and moderate temperatures. Winds were gusting to around 20 mph and swirling from mainly westerly directions
West Willow pit
Dutches snow pit
(Tanner Hall billboard background)
Evaluation
Stability was good. Easy shear at the near surface crust- facet interface is disheartening but, load is lacking . Current forecast indicates strong northerly winds, which, if occurring, could produce some localized drifting. A few of those may provide enough load to create instability in underlying weak layering. Cracking and collapsing would be good indicators of that potential.
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