December 3
Elevations, slope angles and aspects
7500-10200', angles over 40°, all aspects
Snow conditions
Mill D north fork trail was a mixed bag of dirt, ice and snow packed all the way to the ridge overlooking Desolation lake. The crest trail was mostly snow covered with a few inches and some wind drifts. North facing shady had 12-24" totals+ drifting. A zipper crust was covering most shady slopes capped with small surface hoar.
"Cold temps should spike gradients within the snow pack accelerating the kinetic process."
I found the above statement amusing because...well...exactly the opposite is the normal state.
Just like reptiles, the snow slows down when it's cold but, ain' t no avi expert.
I did find these hoar needles growing around a thermal spot on the north facing West Deso ridge run. What I found unusual was the hot spot had steam escaping into the surrounding air.
That'd be a first for me.
Weather
Partly cloudy skies, cool temperatures and a cool breeze from the northwest.
Snow pit # 1
Snow pit # 2
A coupla pics on that one.
Hoar can be seen hanging down above the shear in the column.
A few feathers remain visible on the underside of the block after tipping it over.
Evaluation
Stable snow was found on all aspects at all elevations. It'll be interesting to see how things shake out with loading, since faceting is present throughout the entire snow pack.
Load will define what pulls first, if and when it snows.
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