Low Density Snow, Buried Surface Hoar, and Blowing Snow on Lincoln Ridge

More snow fell in the northern part of the forecast area this morning, and we knew from yesterday's observations that surface hoar existed in the Yuba Pass area. With those things in mind, we returned to Yuba Pass today to see how the surface hoar reacted to the new snow load. 

When we arrived, 4-6 inches of snow had already accumulated in the area. We started seeing signs of buried surface hoar as soon as we started moving, including cracks around our skis and tiny skier-triggered sluffs of loose dry snow on test slopes. This layer was easy to see in hand pits, and the new snow broke away from it with hardly any resistance. The 6 to 10 inches of fresh snow above this weak layer was cold and light. It had not coalesced into a slab layer yet. When the surface hoar underneath it broke, the new snow would fall apart rather than allowing the failure to propagate.

When we got into more exposed terrain on the ridge, we could see blowing snow and drifts of wind-blown snow. The newest areas of wind-blown snow existed on SW aspects due to the NE winds. These winds had already scoured some snow away from the N and NE aspects. Ski kicks in wind-loaded areas only triggered minor cracking that did not extend very far in the soft new snow.