Blowing Snow on Tamarack Peak

Blowing snow was visible along the ridgelines driving up to the Tamarack parking area. Once we started skinning, we observed widespread wind effects on the snow surface in exposed areas at all elevations including a more dense layer of wind-packed snow, ripples, and some scouring. In more wind-loaded areas along ridges, we found dense wind slabs up to 12 inches in thickness. Ski kicks on wind-loaded test slopes did not cause cracking or wind slab failures unless we first undercut the slopes.  Blowing snow continued throughout the day was often intense. Our skin track and other ski tracks from the morning had refilled with blowing snow by the time we were skinning back up after our first descent. The wind left most areas with a punchy snow surface.

In more sheltered areas, we found softer snow. We also dug a few snowpits on W - NE aspects to look at how the snowpack is changing. Our tests did not reveal signs of instability within the new snow or at the old snow / new snow interface. 

Photo 1: Blowing snow along a sub-ridge of Tamarack Peak. The arrow is pointing to a person standing on the ridge.

Photo 2: Skier-triggered cracks in a wind-loaded test slope that was undercut.

Photo 3: Wind-scoured features along a ridge.

Photo 4: Macro ripples (aka tiger stripes) across a slope near the summit of Tamarack.

Photo 5: Our skin track refilled quickly with wind loading.