Observations from Tamarack Peak

Location Name: 
East Ridge Tamarack Peak
Region: 
Mount Rose Area
Date and time of observation: 
Thu, 03/27/2014 - 11:00
Location Map: 
United States
39° 18' 50.688" N, 119° 54' 55.386" W
See map: Google Maps
US


Red Flags: 
Whumphing noises, shooting cracks, or collapsing
Recent loading by new snow, wind, or rain
Observation made by: Professional Observer
Snowpit Observations
More detailed information about the snowpack: 

Around 6-8'' of settled storm snow over the last few days in the Tamarack Peak area.  Wind effected snow in all exposed areas even below treeline.  Wind slabs on the exposed East Ridge were not reactive except for shooting cracks and cracking.  Minimal amounts of blowing snow due to most of the windward sides are scoured down to previous crusts or dirt/rocks.  At 9400' and 9600' on north aspects I found facets above and below the pre storm melt freeze crust.  These facets were showing easy compression tests with sudden planar results.  Most ECT's and PST tests showed that propagation was not likely but I did have 1 ECTP-6 at 9600' on this same layer.  The slab is relatively small and not very strong at this point.     

Photos:  Cracking and shooting cracks in upper 4-6'' wind slabs in exposed terrain on the East Ridge of Tamarack Peak.  With many cornice drops and ski cuts on small test slopes in wind loaded terrain none of these resulted in any slab movement.

Video#1:  ECTN on facet layer above old snow surface crust layer.

Video#2:  PST 30/100 SF

Snowpack photos: 
Snowpit videos (tests, etc): 

EastRidgeTamarack2014 3 27 006

EastRidgeTamarack2014 3 27 007

Weather Observations
Blowing Snow: 
Yes
Cloud Cover: 
50% of the sky covered by clouds
Air temperature: 
Below Freezing
Wind Speed: 
Moderate
Precipitation: 
None
Air temperature trend: 
Warming
Wind Direction: 
Southwest