We ventured out again in the Northern Bear River Range today, this time digging an avy pit on a north-facing slope at about 8,700 feet elevation. The slope was about30 degrees, and we found a total snow depth of around 50 inches. The most recent storm about five days ago dropped 18 inches of new snow on top of a seriously thick 8 to 10-inch rain crust. Beneath that, we had a mix of older layers—some wet early-season snow and a few ice layers from November and early December.
In the avy pit, our shovel shear didn’t show much activity. Compression tests gave us failures just above that big rain crust—one at 19 taps and another at 23 taps. However, when we did the extended column test, even with some solid pounding up to 30 hits, we didn’t get any propagation or failures, which was a good sign for overall stability in that spot.
PSA: We did notice some surface hoar in the lower-lying, flat areas, with grain sizes up to a quarter or even three-eighths of an inch (see Picture 1). It was pretty pronounced in those sheltered spots down low. Higher up, there was a little surface hoar but not enough to be a big concern right now. If we get more snow on top of that layer it will be something to keep an eye on.
We rode some steeper lines today—30 to 35 degrees—and even pushed into a 40-degree rocky area where we triggered a bit of dry sluff (Picture 2). It looked like a small loose slide but nothing serious, and we had no cracking or slab issues otherwise. The north-facing slopes were fantastic for riding—good medium-density snow that stayed nice all day. Anything facing east or south was getting warm and sticky by late morning, so we stuck to the northerly aspects for the best conditions. My guess is that the high clouds and green housing effect this afternoon are baking many snow surface
Overall, the biggest challenge is just the low snow coverage down low. Trailheads and access roads have barely a foot of snow, making it tough to get around on a snowmobile. Once you’re up high, though, it’s getting better,,, until it rains tomorrow...
