The new snow (30-50cm) bonded relatively well to most snow surfaces. The only place I’d be concerned about is the southerly-facing slopes, which formed a thick (5cm) melt-freeze crust over the last few days. Here, the new snow wasn’t bonding that well. I only noticed a handful of localized cracking in wind-drifted areas within the new snow.

I dug on several slopes near treeline and found cold snow throughout the snowpack. In all the snow pits I dug, I found weak depth hoar at the bottom, which was still reactive to long column tests.

Jones Pass

I parked at the Jones Pass trailhead and then walked up the road.

Winter returned in force today around Jones Pass. About 8 inches of snow around the trailhead and about a foot or so up around the pass. Snow heights today ranged anywhere from 115 to 200cm, depending on where you were. I specifically targeted some of the shallower areas, where you will most likely trigger an avalanche.

On a northwest-facing slope around 11,800ft, I found a snow height of 129cm. About 30cm of new snow rests on a stiff 1-Finger Hard slab, which rests on weak snow near the ground. I got hard results in my Extended Coloum Test (ECTP27 at 25cm from the ground), and my Propagation Saw Test was 45/125END at 25cm.

On a northeast-facing slope about 11,700ft, I found a similar structure to the northwest-facing snow pit. Here, the snow depth was 115cm. There was a thin crust, which could be wind-pressed snow or a very thin melt-freeze crust. There was too much blowing snow to really get a good look at it today. My ECT failed across the column with seven taps from the elbow.

This snow pit was 160 cm deep on a south-facing slope, around 11,700ft. I found cold snow throughout but way more melt-freeze crusts. This new snow (30cm) was still soft, but because it fell on top of a stout (5cm thick) melt-freeze crust, my ECT propagated easily with one hit from the wrist on top of this crust. While traveling on skis, I could not penetrate this upper crust.

The winds were moderate, with strong gusts out of the west and northwest for the entire day. It continued to snow on and off all day, to the point that my skin tracks on the way in were filled in with a couple of inches of new snow.