Observation: Turnagain

Location: Sunburst Ridge

Date:
Observer:
Route & General Observations

Followed a well-worn skin track up Sunburst Ridge today. Spent a good amount
of time looking for the new surface hoar that was reported over the last couple
of days and fortunately could not find any. A quick check on the NE side of the
ridge at about 3000 ft. revealed a more wind-hardened snow surface as opposed
to the soft, unconsolidated snow found on SW slopes. We climbed a
few hundred feet higher and dug a quick test pit on a SW facing, 37 degree
slope, about 200 feet below the ridge crest (pit profile). Winds were calm
with overcast skies, very light snow, and temps in the high teens. Here we
found that the latest storm snow continues to settle and bond well to the older
snow below it. Boot penetration today was only 50 cm and stability tests
showed a snowpack with high strength in the top 1 meter that also resulted in
low energy shears (CT 21, Q3 and ECTN 24).

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