Snow Profile: Gad Valley 11/15/2010

Observation Date:

11/15/2010

Submitted/Updated:
Mon 11/15/2010 - 10:31 pm

Submitted by:
Kobernik

Elevation:

9600'

Aspect:

North

Northeast

Slope Angle:

Comments:

With only a little time available today but a lot of curiosity about the new snow I grabbed a tram ride at Snowbird and poked around in non-skier compacted snow. Snow safety reported a fairly active morning with lots of new snow instability. The new snow was no doubt inverted and that was most likely the cause of most of the instability. By the time I was there slightly after noon, I did not notice any cracking or shooting cracks but I didn't visit the most interesting terrain either.

A rime crust formed on Sunday but obs from around the Cottonwoods report it as spotty. Low to medium density snow fell on top of it then higher density snow containing graupel fell as the storm progressed. There was about 8 to 10" of new snow all together. The main weakness was in the lower density below the graupel with some shears in the graupel also. I was able to get stubborn Q2 shears below the rime crust which failed in broken particles that had undergone minor faceting.

Snow Profile Image:

Below is another look at the snowpack with similar layering to what I've seen in the upper Cottonwoods. You can see the graupel layer which is quite a bit thicker at this location compared to most. You can also see the lower density snow below it. Below the rime crust broken particles are present. You can still make out arms from stellars with a scope. Some faceting in this layer occurred from the 11th to the 14th but the temperature gradients weren't all that steep.

I dug four holes during my short visit to Snowbird and only got interesting test results in one. This one I got full propagation during an ECT test at 18 taps. It failed below the rime crust in the grains of broken particles. This location had almost twice as much new snow as most places. Was this the cause for the propagation here and not at the other locations?

While crusts can be pesky and produce persistent weakness I don't think this is cause for too much alarm. First, the rime crust is reported to be a bit spotty. Second the weakness is either new snow grains or broken particles both of which should settle and start to form bonds fairly quick. Weight is our friend here so we like the higher density snow on top. This may prove to be active if we see another shot of snow on Wednesday but give it a day or so and I'll bet these layers heal. Don't take my word for it though, dig down and take a look yourself to see if that's really the case.

Location

40° 33' 42.156" N, 111° 39' 27.2592" W

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