New snow on Andesite

Location Name: 
Andesite
Region: 
Donner Summit Area
Observation Date & Time: 
Saturday, December 31, 2022 - 13:31
Is this an Avalanche Observation?: 
No


Conditions Alerts:



Observation made by: Guide at Alpenglow Expeditions

Tabs

Observation
Description of Snow, Weather, and Avalanche Conditions: 

We toured out of the Castle Peak trailhead today to assess our rapidly changing conditions. When we left the truck it was snowing hard with moderate winds out of the SW, the snow was heavy and dense, and much of the paved road to get from the parking area to the trailhead had large puddles. There was approximately 20 - 30 cm of new snow at the trailhead when we headed out around 11 am. Breaking trail was arduous, sometimes breaking through the snow from the earlier part of the storm that was heavily saturated and moist. Once we reached around 7800' elevation the winds were much more noticeable, heavy snow with blowing snow and whiteout conditions made for tricky and unpleasant travel. On test slopes we found reactive storm slabs, the largest was intentionally stomped on and created around a D1 that connected and propagated to an adjoining piece of terrain. It appeared to fail within the new storm snow from the last 24hrs. We ripped skins around 8000' and returned back down the skin track

Hide Weather Details
Elevation of Observation: 
7000 - 8000 ft.
Blowing Snow: 
Intense
Wind Direction: 
Southwest
Wind Speed: 
Strong
Sky Cover: 
Obscured by fog, etc
Highest Precipitation Rate: 
Heavy Snowfall (S5 = 5 cm /~2 in per hour)
Precipitation: 
Snow
Air temperature: 
Below Freezing