I haven't been on the E facing sunny slopes in a while and wanted to have a look at them. Travel on the N facing shady slopes on the headwall of Cardiff Fork has become a battle with slippery facets and a unsupportable snow pack, the layering is disappearing into a pile of depth hoar and rotten facets. The snow on the E facing on Cardiac Ridge is not fairing much better, the granulated sugar is shallower, and has varying degrees of wind slab capping it off mid-slope and above. E,N and W aspects with snow on them are all extremely, weak and are not likely to hold much of a load, if we ever get one. Backcountry travel is getting tough with the S facing melted out to dirt and many hazards on slopes with snow, the hiking to turning ratio is a bit lop-sided
Video: wind hammered Cardiac Ridge, and the faceted snow that makes up our snow pack this year.
I haven't been on the E facing sunny slopes in a while and wanted to have a look at them. Travel on the N facing shady slopes on the headwall of Cardiff Fork has become a battle with slippery facets and a unsupportable snow pack, the layering is disappearing into a pile of depth hoar and rotten facets. The snow on the E facing on Cardiac Ridge is not fairing much better, the granulated sugar is shallower, and has varying degrees of wind slab capping it off mid-slope and above. E,N and W aspects with snow on them are all extremely, weak and are not likely to hold much of a load, if we ever get one. Backcountry travel is getting tough with the S facing melted out to dirt and many hazards on slopes with snow, the hiking to turning ratio is a bit lop-sided
Video: wind hammered Cardiac Ridge, and the faceted snow that makes up our snow pack this year.