Slab Cliffs Observations

We went back to where an observation was done on Monday April 6 in the Incline Lake/Slab Cliffs area.  This area had a layer of weak snow below the old snow surface crust that is now buried underneath our last storm snow.  This weak layer has been responsible for recent avalanche activity in the Mt. Rose area and the reason for the persistent slab avalanche problem that we currently have.  We dug many snowpits throughout this area and did a series of tests.  At the site of the previous observation, we did get repeatable ECT's to propagate across the block showing that propagation is still possible.  At the other 3 locations we tested, we did not get results that showed a concern on this weak layer/crust combination.  This layer is gaining strength at different rates at different locations.  While this layer is isolated throughout this terrain, pockets of instabilities could still exist. 

E winds were strong along ridges transporting snow.  Small wind slabs 4-6'' deep were forming and were reactive to snowpack tests but only showed limited cracking and other signs of instabilities.  Cold and blustery conditions existed for most of the day except for some intermittent sun breaks.  Surface snow conditions became wet and sticky below 8600', with small loose wet avalanches easy to kick off on steeper test slopes.