Snowpit below Meiss Ridge

Location Name: 
Upper Truckee Headwaters
Region: 
Carson Pass Area
Date and time of observation: 
Mon, 12/21/2009 - 10:45
Location Map: 
United States
38° 42' 49.7052" N, 120° 0' 53.7444" W
See map: Google Maps
US


Red Flags: 
Recent loading by new snow, wind, or rain
Terrain Trap
Observation made by: Professional Observer
Snowpit Observations
More detailed information about the snowpack: 

ECTN8 Q2 at 10cm down Progressive Collapse was very consistent with what I saw throughout morning - the rain crust / melt freeze crust layer collapsed easily under my skis, but failed to propagate at all. The NCF layer just under this crust appears widespread, but facets have deteriorated greatly - I think the failures during column tests at this layer were more due to difference in hand hardness than due to grain type. Will propagation potential increase as slab builds?

Also, I had the opportunity to test two steep, windloaded NE aspect slopes with upwards of 20cm of new snow (wind) by ski cutting and dropping small cornices. Cornice drops failed to trigger anything. Cross-slope ski cuts failed to trigger anything. But sideslipping down-slope, entraining snow, did cause minor slab failure with very small slab debris (30-50cm wide, 10-20cm deep) above the crust layer. Bonding between new snow and crust layer appears fair to good, but highly variable.

Snowpit or crown profile photo or graph: 
Any other comments about the observation or links to outside pages that have more info on the observation: 

 

Weather Observations
Blowing Snow: 
Yes
Cloud Cover: 
100% of the sky covered by clouds
Air temperature: 
Below Freezing
Wind Speed: 
Moderate
Precipitation: 
Snow
Air temperature trend: 
Static
Wind Direction: 
Southwest
Accumulation rate: 
Less than 1 in. per hour
More detailed information about the weather: 

Moderate wind and S1 precip had increased to strong wind and S2 precip by the time of my departure.