April 6, 2008; Heather Ridge
4/15/08
WA Stevens Pass
1379
0
Soft early-April pow still held up well on northerly-facing slopes in the trees and glades!
Headed out with Skip, Jason, and Hank in search of the fluffy goods and were not disappointed, and in fact were a bit surprised that the pow exceeded expectations. Snow on the 2nd run in the early afternoon was noticeably heavier in sun-exposed areas, but still quite fun (some face shots in the shade), followed by unexpectedly pleasant skiing on a solar aspect (SE-facing) on the way out (shallow mush overlying a firm base).
Quick snowpit at about 5,300-ft elev. on a wind-loaded NW aspect (slope angle about 20-degrees):
Upper 6" soft fluff (Fist) over a thin crust (poor bond: CT4), denser snow beneath (4 Finger) to crust layer at about 3.5-ft deep. Shovel shear revealed fairly clean break at about 14" deep (no failure noted on compression test at that layer). Signs of recent shallow sluffing from steeper slopes/rock faces prevalent on all aspects, though no large natural slides observed.
Additional pics posted here.
Headed out with Skip, Jason, and Hank in search of the fluffy goods and were not disappointed, and in fact were a bit surprised that the pow exceeded expectations. Snow on the 2nd run in the early afternoon was noticeably heavier in sun-exposed areas, but still quite fun (some face shots in the shade), followed by unexpectedly pleasant skiing on a solar aspect (SE-facing) on the way out (shallow mush overlying a firm base).
Quick snowpit at about 5,300-ft elev. on a wind-loaded NW aspect (slope angle about 20-degrees):
Upper 6" soft fluff (Fist) over a thin crust (poor bond: CT4), denser snow beneath (4 Finger) to crust layer at about 3.5-ft deep. Shovel shear revealed fairly clean break at about 14" deep (no failure noted on compression test at that layer). Signs of recent shallow sluffing from steeper slopes/rock faces prevalent on all aspects, though no large natural slides observed.
Additional pics posted here.
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