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Snowpack Summary February 22, 2020
Posted by Allen Giernet @ 8:21 am This summary applies to backcountry areas only. The Bottom Line - The avalanche concern remains low at this time. Icy firm surfaces were predominant in most areas prior to last nights snowfall. In Northerly sheltered locations a firm surface sat upon faceted snow. Though column tests produced no response exercise caution in sheltered gullies and terrain as isolated pockets of instability may exist. The recent storm left us with little snow with totals up to 6”/ 15cm in some areas. Anticipate poor bonding on the sun effected firm surfaces that existed throughout our ranges, dust on crust. With rapid warming forecast for today and clearing skies these bonds will weaken more increasing the potential for small storm snow releases (sluffs). Though not likely or large they could still sweep you off your feet on fast firm surfaces in low tide conditions. Be aware of where you are, whats below you and changing conditions in the snow pack. Temperatures are forecast to remain warm through most of the week. Strong West to Northwest winds are forecast for Monday through Wednesday. With new transportable snow we may see the development of windslabs due to crossloading in gullies and below ridges. Look for snow being transported, scouring on windward ridges and gullies, firm snow surfaces and pillowing following any wind events. Fast firm conditions with slide for life scenarios will be possible in the mornings and sheltered areas. Be prepared with proper equipment (ice axe and crampons) and know how to use them. A slip and fall can lead to a slide for life situation, especially with the dust on crust conditions. Be aware of whats below you and shallowly buried obstacles in the current low tide conditions. Choose your approaches accordingly and change travel plans before you get into a situation you can’t retreat from. Exercise caution on slopes >30°. Be well aware of your surroundings and changing conditions throughout the day and your travel area. Expect variable conditions, be prepared with the proper equipment and plan accordingly. Please share any and all snow observations through our reports page. Any information is valuable no matter how simple General Summary
Fast firm surfaces received 6”/ 15cm to a dusting of snow. Poor bonding will present the possibility of loose snow avalanches. Warming temperatures will increase this possibility through the day. Strong Northwest to West winds forecast for Monday through Wednesday will increase the possibility of wind slabs developing below ridglines and through crossloading in gullies. These may be small and isolated but could sweep you off your feet through exposed or shallowly buried obstacles. Anticipate fast firm conditions in the mornings and in sheltered areas. Be prepared with ice axe and crampons or change travel plans. Prevent getting yourself into a situation where retreat is not possible. A slip and fall in these conditions can lead to a slide for life scenario with dire consequences due to the low tide conditions that presently exist. These situations are the biggest problem we have in our southern California mountains and are the cause for most of our winter rescue situations. To better understand the challenges and potential variability over the large area we are producing information for please read our Snowpack Summary - Format and Limitations Disclaimer:
This Bulletin is designed to generally describe conditions where local variations always occur. Travelers are advised to exercise caution and make slope specific evaluations. As always, please treat this bulletin with appropriately guarded skepticism and make your own assessments. Help to provide more information to the community by reporting your observations
2-27-20 Warming continues with temperatures well above seasonal averages. Skies will be partially cloudy with moderate to strong North to Northeast winds. Warm temps and mucho pf the same for Friday. Saturday an approaching low pressure system will bring some cooling to the area. The low pressure trough should be moving into the area by late Saturday night. Sunday there will be chance of snow showers with much colder temperatures. Snow levels will get as low as 4,500'/ through the day. Precipitation is very dependent on the track of the system with anywhere from a trace up to 6"/ above the 7,000'/ elevation. winds will be moderate to strong and begin westerly becoming Southwest through Sunday. Monday will begin to clear with the chance of lingering showers. Tuesday will be dry and warming will begin into next week.
We are on the road again training and will have limited services at times. Please forgive any lapse in updates as we will update weather and snowpack summaries whenever we have a connection. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. - The SCSAC Staff - Hint: for historical weather forecast data use our facebook page as all posts are there on a running timeline. For more details check each areas forecast and weather stations for most current information.5 Latest Observtions
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Observation type - Snowpack
Location (general area) - Baden Powel Date (yyyymmdd) - 20200216 Comment - I was booting up the lower NE gully on Baden-Powell and noticed things had looked a bit wind-loaded in the gully, but the sides were light on snow. Halfway up it got really deep and felt 2 small whumphs (no cracks though). I dug a quick pit on the side and found that the top layer slid with about 2-3 pounds of force (went really easily). The 4 inch slab sat on about 4-5 inches of soft gropple. Underneath that was the ice crust. Decided to get off the slope. Pretty sure it was from the NE winds that came with the storm last weekend (and the fact that its a gully). Along the PCT there was also 4-5 inches of snow on the ice crust but nothing slid at all and the sun had kinda baked it down. It felt fine to ski. |
Observation type
Snowpack Location - San Gorgonio Date (yyyymmdd) - 20200202 Comment - Hiked up a north facing chute on Gorgonio on Sunday. Probed the snowpack at about 10,500ft in the heart of the chute (34.1049295, -116.8331683), 140cm depth. Quick observations we made as it was quite icy on the chute (Disclaimer: I am Not an expert): ~10-20cm hard crust (slick ice in some spots) on top of an undetermined amount of loose, soft, sugary snow. Fast and firm, slide for life conditions up high but below ~9,000ft had corn conditions with some ice patches/crust in shaded spots. Good coverage from South Fork Meadows (Dollar lake/dry lake trail split) on up. |
Observation type
Snowpack Location - Jepson Peak Date (yyyymmdd) - 20200113 Comment - Hiked out of south fork trail on Monday to see how the chutes on Jepson are looking. The answer? Not good. Last weeks winds scoured the faces of Gorgonio and Jepson and left behind a nasty wind crust/ice layer. Turned around and skinned up Charlton peak and found similar, but more rideable, conditions in the main gullies/chutes. Not the most fun descent. Made one last quick ascent up the eastern side of Shields peak to see how the snow was on its protected, north face (34.1378588, -116.8655426). Surprisingly, there was pretty good coverage and still some soft snow which made for some great turns through the trees. |
Observation type
Snowpack Location - Mt Charlton Date (yyyymmdd) - 20200108 Comment - Skied Charlton peak on Wednesday, wind was picking up when we topped out. A few obs from the tour: -Protected N aspects low down had some near surface facets. Likely due to our temperature inversions overnight. -Solar slopes had up to 3cm of temp crust. Pretty hard for us on the way up, soft"er" on the way down/later in the day. -Lots of signs of wind effect (sastrugi). We dug a quick pit just below the summit of Charlton and found 50cm of 4f- wind slab. Fairly well bonded to the Dec rain crust below. No results to ECT. -Skiing was variable. Pockets of slightly consolidated powder—buttery and solid. Lots of breakable wind board. Chunks of wind board would sluff but no propagation or energy. -Looking at the N facing slopes off San G and Jepson, it looks like we are stripping snow off the top, but keeping the chutes filled in nicley. While we were up there, observed strong winds were blowing snow in to the next county! |
General Caution
You should always use safe terrain management and carry avalanche rescue equipment in the backcountry. Most avalanches are triggered by someone in the party or the victim. Practice with your rescue gear often and be prepared should the worst happen. Though we do not have an avalanche forecast center in this area as of yet, the information posted and shared here as well as the resources available on this site will help to make informed decisions for your backcountry travels. Use avalanche forecasts in your travels wherever available and be aware that avalanche ratings are general information. Elevation, location, geographic variability’s, slope aspect and angle all have effects on the particular area you travel in. This is only one piece of the information you should use in your decision making process. There is no substitute for avalanche education, for more resources and information as well as education please refer to our resources page.
You should always use safe terrain management and carry avalanche rescue equipment in the backcountry. Most avalanches are triggered by someone in the party or the victim. Practice with your rescue gear often and be prepared should the worst happen. Though we do not have an avalanche forecast center in this area as of yet, the information posted and shared here as well as the resources available on this site will help to make informed decisions for your backcountry travels. Use avalanche forecasts in your travels wherever available and be aware that avalanche ratings are general information. Elevation, location, geographic variability’s, slope aspect and angle all have effects on the particular area you travel in. This is only one piece of the information you should use in your decision making process. There is no substitute for avalanche education, for more resources and information as well as education please refer to our resources page.
SCSAC T-shirts and Hats now available
with donation
Fundraising
campaign
We are raising funds to purchase and install the first of several weather stations at remote locations in our local mountains. This will bring us much needed pertinent data from above snow line that we doe not have reliable resources for. Satelite link up will bring us snow depth and amounts, along with wind, temperature and much more and will be available to the public.
Our goal is to raise $10,000 to purchase the equipment, cover installations costs and provide for a much needed overhaul of the website.
Please contribute to make this a reality for us all. Click on the donate button below and come out to join our annual fundraiser event at Mt. Baldy
Goal: $10,000 Recieved: $2,500.00
For more information go to the Fundraiser Program page
campaign
We are raising funds to purchase and install the first of several weather stations at remote locations in our local mountains. This will bring us much needed pertinent data from above snow line that we doe not have reliable resources for. Satelite link up will bring us snow depth and amounts, along with wind, temperature and much more and will be available to the public.
Our goal is to raise $10,000 to purchase the equipment, cover installations costs and provide for a much needed overhaul of the website.
Please contribute to make this a reality for us all. Click on the donate button below and come out to join our annual fundraiser event at Mt. Baldy
Goal: $10,000 Recieved: $2,500.00
For more information go to the Fundraiser Program page
2019/20 Events
The Avalanche Center
The Avalanche Center
Events 2019/20Free Avalanche
Awareness
Presentations:
Everyone is welcome
Our first presentation of the Season
Sports LTD
Unfortunately Rescheduled for a later date
More Dates and locations coming soon
Awareness
Presentations:
Everyone is welcome
Our first presentation of the Season
Sports LTD
Unfortunately Rescheduled for a later date
More Dates and locations coming soon
National Ski
Patrol - Local
Claremont Calif. L.A.
Level 1 Class sessions
Registration
live now
January 14 & 16
Field sessions
January 25 & 26
February 22 & 23
March 7 & 8
Level 2 Class sessions
January 28 & 30
Registration
live now
Field sessions February 22 & 23
March 7 & 8
Go To Events page for full details
Sierra Mountain
Center
Bishop, Ca
Sierra Mountain
Guides
Bishop, Ca.
Sierra
Mountaineering
International
Bishop, Ca
For the current curriculum nationwide visit the
AAI
AAIRE
&
A3
websites
Patrol - Local
Claremont Calif. L.A.
Level 1 Class sessions
Registration
live now
January 14 & 16
Field sessions
January 25 & 26
February 22 & 23
March 7 & 8
Level 2 Class sessions
January 28 & 30
Registration
live now
Field sessions February 22 & 23
March 7 & 8
Go To Events page for full details
Sierra Mountain
Center
Bishop, Ca
Sierra Mountain
Guides
Bishop, Ca.
Sierra
Mountaineering
International
Bishop, Ca
For the current curriculum nationwide visit the
AAI
AAIRE
&
A3
websites
