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Public Observation

Observation Details

Observation Date:
December 19, 2020
Submitted:
December 20, 2020
Zone or Region:
Boulder/Jughandle Area
Activity:
Skiing/Snowboarding
Location:
Boulder Mountain/Shaw-Twin Lakes Ridge

Signs of Unstable Snow

Did you see shooting cracks? 
No
Did you experience collapsing or whumpfing? 
Yes, Isolated

Observations

Elevation: 6000-8100 ft. Snow depths: 60cm-70cm. Visibility was quite low, which prevented much observation in the surrounding area. Shaw-Twin Lakes ridge was scoured with small wind deposits. There was some isolated settling/collapsing in the west-facing woods below the Shaw-Twin Lakes ridge, but I did not observe any cracking. Skied mostly east/southeast terrain at or under 30% above Boulder Lake (ski quality was very good). The 15cm of storm snow seemed to have bonded well to the underlying snowpack in the east/southeast terrain. I was not able to produce a shear in various handpits between 7000 and 7500 feet, with the new snow (4F below the F new snow). Southwest, and west terrain above the lake are quite rocky and thin.

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