Snow Pack for January 24, 2007

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

By Brigid Mander

Beware the ball bearings
There certainly hasn’t been much excitement in the world of snowfall recently, and the local snow pack does continue to be one of the worst in recent memory.
The good news, though, is nothing much has been sliding over the last week in the Tetons, even though overall the snow is still far from bomber. Similar aspects have beenreacting differently to traffic, making any movement hard to predict.
Under a pretty firm cap there still exists a thick layer of faceted snow, referred to as a “ball bearing” snow pack by one friend. The buried facets when you dig a pit are literally the size and shape of ball bearings. Ideally, avoiding rock garden areas and steep, shaded slopes will keep you a little farther above this layer (which has accelerated growth near rocks) and thus less likely to trigger any movement.
Other than that, the four inches of light-density snow we received over the weekend supplied a welcome respite from dry, blue skies – it skied pretty well for just a few inches – but along with the developed surface hoar, it may well form another scary layer if we ever get a significant snowfall on top of it.
There isn’t a lot to do but keep practicing good avalanche safety habits, be prepared for anything when out in the backcountry – and plan a road trip to where there is more snow.   

PERMALINK:
Snow Pack for January 24, 2007 | Planet JH News Article: Snow Report Column

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