I found the 12/8 weak layer to be reactive in snow pit instability tests I conducted on easterly aspects, though I did not experience any other signs of instability aside from minor cracking whilst traveling in the field. I did not find a wind slab problem where I expected to on an exposed easterly aspect on the leeside of a ridge, though it may not be representative of higher elevation terrain.

Baker Mountain

Parked at Muddy Pass and skinned west through the aspens and low-angle meadows. Gained the ridge from the South and stopped shy of the summit. Skied the same route back down.

On the easterly aspects I observed, I found the height of snow to range between 55cm on sheltered slopes to over 80cm on the leeside of the Baker Mountain ridge. Traveling on slopes with a southerly tilt, my skis would penetrate through the new snow (about 13cm) but were supported by the crust beneath. On pure east or more northerly aspects, ski penetration was generally about 15-20cm, but every couple steps I would sink through the new snow into the faceted grains beneath, making for arduous travel. There was sometimes minor cracking when I penetrated through the new snow, though the cracks didn’t propagate very far. Ski penetration was about 5cm where there was a wind crust. When I stepped into the snow with my boot, in wind affected or sheltered areas, I would sink to near the ground. When I dug a snow pit on the leeside of an exposed ridge, I found wind-effected snow but not a wind slab problem from the recent snow and wind (the uppermost layer of snow was firm, but thin and only a half step harder on the hand-hardness scale than the snow immediately beneath). In this snow pit and others, I did find the layer that developed during the 11/28-12/7 dry spell buried 17-27cm down. Depending on if the slope had a north or south tilt, this layer was surface hoar or a very thin crust, with facets underneath. In one snowpit, an extended column test propagated immediately below the crust (ECTP7 down 18cm) in the faceted snow. While I also saw propagation happen in the basal facets near the ground, each slope I conducted instability tests had willows, and I suspect they impacted the results near the ground.

Few clouds with light winds from the south-southwest. Temperature rose to the mid-twenties by early afternoon. No new snow.