A look at old snow on Relay Pk.

Examined old snow on the ground remaining from the Oct 19 storm event where it lingers along the N aspect of the East Ridge of Relay Peak. Snow depth at 9,400' ranged from 1 cm (new snow only) to 10 cm of old snow. In the areas of around 10 cm (4 in) of old snow, the snowpack structure consisted of thin melt-freeze crust (0.5-1cm thick) on top of faceted snow. These areas were fairly discontinuous, interrupted by bare ground and anchors. This old snow is not expected to act as a problematic basal layer in most areas under additional loading. In isolated areas, some of the old snow patches between interruptions are large enough to hold potential for small pockets of failure with future new snow loading. These spots would generally be no more than 3 to 5 m wide.