Observation type
Snowpack

Observer
Anonymous

Keep me anonymous if published
yes

Location (general area)
San Gorgonio Wilderness, Jepsen Bowl

Latitude
34.10792

Longitude
-116.84703

Date (yyyymmdd)
20230121

Time
11:30 am

Road conditions to area
cleared to south fork trailhead, small amounts of ice

Temperature
-5 C

Sky
clear (no clouds)

Wind speed
not observed

Wind direction
N

Wind direction in degrees

Slope aspect
North

Aspect in degrees
20

Slope angle
roughly 25-30 degrees

Elevation
3090 m

Snow depth
305 cm

Boot/ Ski penetration

Precipitation
None

Activity, recent avalanches
yes

Brief description
small releases on the chutes northwest of jepson

Whumphing noises, shooting cracks. collapsing
no

Rapid warming
no

Obvious avalanche path
no

Terrain trap
no

Comment
We dug the pit on a NNE aspect with visible wind deposits to get an idea of the conditions in the Jepsen chutes. The rain crust that we found at about a meter depth in the pit location was exposed in some wind-scoured locations. 

Top 10 cm were a hard wind slab with fracture propagation on isolation. For the rest of the snowpack ECT resulted in no fracture.

Total snow depth: 305 cm

Snow pit:
Pencil 0-5 cm
Knife to 30 cm
4 Fingers grains to 70 cm
Thin ( Finger to 90 cm
Knife to 100 cm
Loose layer (~1 cm thickness) at 105 cm
Pencil to 145 cm
Knife to 150 cm
Pencil to 200 cm
rain crust (2.5 cm thick) at 200 cm
Pencil to fingers to 290 cm
4 fingers to 295 cm, ECTPV weak layer at 295
knife 295 to 305 --> 10 cm think wind slab, fracture propagating on isolation (consistent with small releases observed on leeward N-NW aspects below jepsen ridge)

Snow temperature was -9C at 15cm below the surface, with a temperature gradient of less than 0.5C / 10cm.

Publish this observation
Yes I would like this observation Published

~10 ft of snow!

The thick rain crust. Where exposed at the surface, this created extremely slippery conditions.