Low avalanche danger and clear and cold weather is providing perfect conditions for tours in the alpine. Although the ski conditions are poor, good coverage from December storms is providing excellent travel conditions in alpine zones.

We were finding widespread faceted snow on the existing snow surface, although recent winds over the past 24-72 hours has cleaned out the snow surface in some exposed terrain at the mid and upper elevations. We were finding snow depths of 80-120 cm above 8,000'. On some SE aspects above 8,500, the crust at the surface is thinner than I would have expected (3-5 mm) with weak/faceted snow underneath, indicating SE aspects may be reactive to avalanches once we put enough of a load on top.

In the upper reaches of Big Springs, it was clear that many of these bowls had slid at some point during the avalanche cycles with still-visible, wide crowns stretching several feet. On these slopes that had avalanched, the snowpack was shallow (at most a meter) and almost entirely faceted. These repeater slopes may be senstive to any future loads.

We also found a few shallow, isolated wind pockets. These were shallow (5-15 cms) and only up to a few meters wide, but they were sitting on top of weak facets underneath and would crack easily. These sensitive drifts could be an issue on steep slopes where getting caught in a small avalanche could serious in consequential terrain. It also highlights that the weak facets that are currently on the snow surface on northerly aspects will be sensitive once we begin to get storms.

Several photos from today's tour showing conditions in the alpine. Notice the wide crowns at the top of slopes across much of the terrain.

I generally leave out photos and a discussion of objectives when submitting observations, but it's worth mentioning that the current stable conditions are providing great opportunities to travel in big terrain in alpine zones. Once storms do return (and they will!), much of this terrain will be off-limits as the avalanche danger will likely be High. Let's enjoy it for now!