Wind packed & windloaded

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

By Brigid Mander

Jackson Hole, Wyo.-The combination of endless wind, snow, and a warm, springy sun usually points to disaster from a backcountry skier’s point of view. This past week, we have had new snow followed by upsettingly high temps, as well as serious wind loading. This has resulted in the least powdery conditions of the season, with windpacked, windloaded slopes up high and crunchiness down in the lower elevations.

As of early this week, the snow pack was surprisingly stable considering these factors, with little natural or skier-triggered activity. Nevertheless, many people have stayed out of the backcountry, or chose oft-skied and mellower lines. On the whole, the majority seemed to be, intelligently, erring the side of caution - a good thing, as there have been a good number of skier-triggered and large natural releases observed recently. Last weekend, warm temperatures had southerly slopes in gooey conditions and masses of rollerballs having a field day on sunny aspects.

Currently, the snow pack seems to have stabilized in general. With no major storms predicted, the general danger will mostly stem from these warm, sunlit aspects.  Temperatures are predicted to be lower this weekend than last - hopefully this is ‘good riddance’ to the thaw and we will soon see a new storm and a return to powder.


PERMALINK:
Wind packed & windloaded | Planet JH News Article: Snow Report Column

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