Snow Pack for February 14, 2007

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

By Brigid Mander

Conditions great; bonding poor
The past week has been pretty exciting with 14 inches of new snow over the last few days. People who climbed above the dreary rain line were rewarded with some phenomenal conditions, but the snowpack still consists of poorly bonded layers now showing a great propensity to break.

A buried layer of large faceted surface hoar sits about a foot down on northern aspects, while the new heavier snow sits on top of hard suncrusts on southerly aspects — both provide slick running surfaces.  The new snow is expected to take longer than usual to bond to the old layers.

On Monday inbounds at JHMR, there were numerous shallow slabs that released by themselves. Outside the gates, large natural crowns were spotted under cliffs on northern slopes, with the weak layer about a foot down.

A skier in Granite Canyon on north-facing Mile Long Couloir set off a foot-deep slab that ran about 500 feet before hitting the ground and running another 1,000 feet.

Bridger-Teton Avalanche Report (www.jhavalanche.org) has been warning about a slide pulling out the weak faceted bottom layers all season.

This is a season where it’s unwise to throw your caution to the wind over a little fresh snow.               

PERMALINK:
Snow Pack for February 14, 2007 | Planet JH News Article: Snow Report Column

Leave a Comment