Observation: Turnagain

Toured up Eddie’s today… arrived at the top of the alders near 1200′ and dug a pit to find 40 cm
of snow, with the buried surface hoar 20 cm down. Performed two compression tests on a 30
degree slope, and each failed cleanly on the buried surface hoar, following 2 and 8 taps from the
wrist. Found our way up to the trees and stayed in them most of the way up, to the north of the
usual skin track. Between ~1800′ – ~2200′ the snow pack settled on us three times while we
crossed 15-20 degree slopes. At 2200′, dug a pit on a 32 degree north facing sheltered slope.
58 cm of snow to the ground there, with the buried surface hoar 40 cm from the snow surface.
Unlike the pit below, there wasn’t a hard layer at the snow surface or below the buried surface
hoar – a card sliced through the side of the pit without a major change in resistance. Performed
three compression tests – the extended column test propagated across the block after 14 taps,
with a pretty clean shear on the buried surface hoar. One compression test broke cleanly after 16
taps 40 cm down, and a final compression test broke after 14 taps, in a rough break down to the
ground level.

The snow changed a lot as we headed up, with the top skiing well, and the bottom crusty.