Greg Gagne

Salt Lake

Grizzly Gulch

Had not been out over the past week and was curious if the faceted snow that has formed over the past week and a half was preserved underneath the 5 cms (2") that we received overnight. Was finding well-preserved faceted layer down about 5 cms from the snow surface and to be anywhere from 10-20 cms in depth. Facets are small-grained (.5 mm). In some places was also finding various forms of a temperature crust with faceted snow above and below the crust. Stability tests got no results (no fracture on ECT or compression test) and the depth hoar down near the ground was damp with evidence of rounding. I am thinking the depth hoar is no longer a player, but the faceted snow formed over the past 10 days is likely to be a player when it receives a more substantial load. On northerly aspects I was finding all the ingredients in place: buried persistent weak layer sitting on top of a bed surface. All we need now is a slab. Until then I would call the hazard Low. Ski conditions are generally poor, but unlike last year we do have a 1F-hard slab to travel on so travel conditions remain fairly good.