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Observation: Mt. Magog

Observation Date
12/10/2012
Observer Name
Weed, McAvoy
Region
Logan
Location Name or Route
Mt Magog, Southwest face
Weather
Sky
Overcast
Precipitation
Moderate Snowfall
Wind Direction
Southwest
Wind Speed
Strong
Weather Comments
Cold and wintry, with plenty of obvious drifting. Warmed up a little and cleared a bit in the afternoon, but visibility remained pretty poor.
Snow Characteristics
New Snow Depth
8"
New Snow Density
Medium
Snow Surface Conditions
Powder
Snow Characteristics Comments
snow a bit wind affected on exposed slopes, but very nice where sheltered. We found good powder riding conditions on all aspects, with east the nicest.
Red Flags
Red Flags
Wind Loading
Cracking
Red Flags Comments
We triggered extensive cracking in drifted surface snow up to around 6" deep and 20' long. We backed off one slope as we encountered more extensive drift formation and cracking near the top...
Avalanche Problem #1
Problem
Persistent Weak Layer
Trend
Decreasing Danger
Problem #1 Comments
This was the obvious concern, and we found slabs forming in all the obvious and usual places as well as in less obvious deposition zones, like on cross-loaded slopes...
Avalanche Problem #2
Problem
New Snow
Trend
Same
Problem #2 Comments
There is a layer of concern consisting of small nsf facets from late last week, now buried under a foot to 18". This was reactive in pit tests where wind slabs sat on it ECTP 15 Q2. In most areas the slab wasn't cohesive enough though, and the powdery snow would just fall apart before failing....
Comments
Here the snow cracked out around 6" deep under my skis on a switch-back... It would also crack and propagate a ways on turns in wind affected snow, as shown in the second picture.
Small cornices along the ridge indicate the presence of drifted snow on the slope below. Although it opened up a little, poor visibility and wind related red flags kept us from trying any of the bigger lines off the east side of Magog..
We took the sled up Tony Grove Road and noticed where several wheeled vehicles were badly stuck in drifted snow below the lake... The drive is getting quite sketcky and you should probably consider reassessing the need to drive if you don't want to dig... At least consider parking lower down on the road.