Public Observation

Observation Details

Observed Avalanches

Signs of Unstable Snow

Observations

PAC toured lick creek summit on Thursday. Thanks to Payette Powder Guides we were able to follow a nice skin track. The new snow quality was great low-density cold smoke that provided face shots. The coverage is good, but not enough still to let your guard down or to convince most skiers to come off the couch and risk ending their season. Above 7,000 feet, the coverage is getting better but varies by aspect due to a lot of snowmelt just after Thanksgiving. You will find a much shallower snowpack where the sun can shine right now. We skied a West and a North aspect that traveled well, but we still hit down wood that was buried below the snow.

The snowpack is trending towards strong. Under a hand lens, weak facets that formed October-December are showing signs of rounding, and overall bonding, basal facets has enough moisture near the ground to make a snowball...the Mid to Upper snowpack produced moderate compression test scores, ECTN and a propigation saw test of 60/100 SC, Sudden Collapse on the mid-pack Atomspheric River (12/12) interface.

The shallow soft snowpack is easily infuenced by a load. Variability in distibution of the snowpack as well as the low coverage has us taking it cautiously right now.

Here is a video from that day https://youtu.be/QqwzV17TeEM