Observation: Hoyt Peak

Observation Date
2/15/2013
Observer Name
jg
Region
Uintas
Location Name or Route
Hoyt Peak area/S. Fork of the Weber
Weather
Sky
Few
Weather Comments
Nice warm day. A few thin clouds. No wind to speak of.
Snow Characteristics
Snow Surface Conditions
Powder
Dense Loose
Melt-Freeze Crust
Damp
Snow Characteristics Comments

Fast, creamy settled powder on north thru east facing slopes. Damp on west facing slopes. Mel/freeze crust on lower elevation west facing slopes at the end of the day.

Red Flags
Red Flags
Poor Snowpack Structure
Red Flags Comments
No signs of recent instability. The poor snowpack structure continues to be the biggest red flag in the areas I traveled. It was the warmest day in a while so I kept that in mind as well.
Comments

I traveled from 6800-10,000 ft, north half of the compass, angles to 32 degrees. Most of the terrain I was traveling in was fairly protected so wind loading was not an issue.Generally speaking the snowpack is thin and weak below about 8000/8500 ft. The snow pack above 8500 ft is deeper and has a bit more strength. My CT and ECT tests had inconclusive results. No results on ECT tests on N, NNW and NE facing slopes. CT test scores 11-25. Columns failed on basal facets, and at both interfaces from the faceting events in January. The basal facets were large grains (3+mm). The January facet interfaces were small grain (1mm). Shear quality was generally Q3 although I did get a couple of Q1 shears on small grained facets from the first faceting event. I've seen some really strong snow and just a few hundred feet away some really weak snow. Anyway, there just seems to be a tremendous amount of spacial variability which makes decision making tricky.