Close
Payette Avalanche Center

Public Observation

Observation Details

Observation Date:
November 23, 2022
Submitted:
November 23, 2022
Zone or Region:
Other
Activity:
XC Skiing/Snowshoeing
Location:
On the shores of Little Payette Lake

Signs of Unstable Snow

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

Observations

As I was cross country skiing along the shore of Little Payette, I noticed my skis collapsed through the snow. The snow was only about one foot thick but I discovered there were big voids in some places. I knelt over to see what happened to the snow, and I discovered the snow was being held above the ground by ice towers that were about 4 to 6 inches tall. i think they are huge depth hoar crystals. I wonder how much depth hoar is on the slopes? We have had several weeks of cold clear weather, and the mud flats of the lake have lots of moisture to form hoar frost.

Media

Little Payette lake , and my ski tracks where the snow had collapsed in the lower left of photo
I dug away the 6 inches or so of snow, and noticed ice crystals in the form of little towers that looked like layers of a clear cake
Here is one  of the towers of ice crystal.
Close