Observation: Payson Canyon

9"

Low

Powder

Thursdays storm began as rain, which left a 1cm ice layer on top of the old snow, As temps cooled, rain turned to 3" of 4F followed by the top 6" of light snow. This would by great if not for the poor structure of the snow underneath. The weight of the new snow was not enough to change anything to the current snowpack. The 25" of old snow is a mixture of facets ranging in size and moisture content. The ground was damp as were the bottom 4" of large grained facets. The 1cm ice layer is fragile and easy to fail. CT failed on isolation. Ski /boot penetration to the ground. (Don't step out of your skis, it's hard to climb back up on them.) The winds hadn't increased while I was there so there were no new wind slabs to be seen. Visibility was good up to 10,000'.