We headed out to the Northern Bear River Range today to see how conditions were shaping up. Unfortunately, the sun and some rain from earlier in the week had really done a number on the snowpack. We rode up to about 9,200 feet at the highest, and we found a thick rain crust—somewhere between an eighth and a quarter inch—sitting right on top all the way up.
We dug a pit on an east-facing slope at around 8,800 feet on a 22-degree incline. Total snow depth was about 21 inches. On top was that rain crust, beneath it about a foot of dense but cohesive snow, and then another pencil-hard crust layer about six inches off the ground. Under that lower crust was just a loose, faceted mess of weak snow.
Now, here's the update on the tests: The compression tests were actually a bit more stable than we first thought. We got failures at CT16. The extended column test was interesting: we had a partial failure around 16 or 17 taps where it started to break below the shovel, but full propagation didn’t occur until ECTP25. It didn’t pop out dramatically, but it did propagate fully at that point.
PSA: Conditions are pretty rough out there right now. The roads are thin on snow and full of rocks, making off-road travel really tricky. Even skinning up was tough with that icy crust. We did get some runs in and enjoyed the sunny, quiet day, but for mid-December, the conditions are a bit bleak. Stay safe out there!
