Soft Snow on Sheltered Slopes and Eroding Crusts on Tamarack Peak

4 to 6 inches of soft unconsolidated snow existed on the sheltered near and below treeline N-NE aspects in the Tamarack Peak and Fireplug areas today. This soft snow rested above a thin rain crust on top of a supportable snowpack. A thin potential weak layer does exist below thin rain crust, but snowpit tests indicated that this layer remains unreactive at this time. On the more exposed near and above treeline slopes, the N-NE winds had scoured the surface down to the rain crust. This crust has eroded enough that it is now variable. In some places it is thin enough to be breakable in others it is supportable and in others it is almost gone. The snow below the crust on the exposed aspects was well bonded and supportable. On the sun exposed slopes 2-3 inches of wet sticky snow existed on the surface by 1 pm.

Photo 1: The N-NE-ENE facing Hourglass Bowl with variable conditions ranging from crusts to softer snow at the top of Tamarack Peak.

Photo 2: Crust thickness in Hourglass Bowl

Photo 3: ECTN 13 just below the rain crust on  sheltered N aspect at 8910 ft. at the location attached to this ob. Note how thin the crust is. Above the crust soft snow (F to 4F) snow exists. The line below the crust shows where the thin potential weak layer has started to form.

Photo 4: PST 30/100(SF) just below the upper rain crust at the same location as the as the ECTN mentioned above.