Poor Snowpack Structure

The snowpack seemed to consist of three major layers, from top to bottom: 1) roughly 16 inches of very low density new storm and windblown snow, 2) about 10 inches of dense (between 4 fingers and 1 finger), compact snow that sat atop a yellow snow band (see picture), under which 3) about 10 inches of large, granular faceted snow sitting at the snow/ground interface. Isolated columns released after 14 taps (10 wrist, 4 elbow). Surprisingly, extended columns released at the snow/ground interface after only 4 taps from the wrist, and propagated across the entire column. This extended column observation was repeated, with the same results, three times. Such easy release, extensive propagation, and at such a low angle (27 ­degrees) kept us on very conservative terrain. No cracking or evidence of natural slides were observed in the USA bowl area during our tour.