Observation type
Snowpack
Observer
Paolo Piumatti
Keep me anonymous if published
no
Location (general area)
Mount San Antonio (San Gabriel Mountains)
Date (yyyymmdd)
20170201
Time
from 6am to 11am to
Road conditions to area
Dry
Temperature
according to the termometer of the car 37°F at 5.30 at Manker Flats
Sky
clear (no clouds)
Wind speed
Moderate (17-25mph Small trees sway/ flags stretched) 
Wind direction
W
Slope aspect
South East
Boot/ Ski penetration
hard surface, used boot crampons
Precipitation.None
None
Activity, recent avalanches
No 
Whumphing noises, shooting cracks. collapsing
no 
Rapid warming
yes
Comment
This comment is not a deep report on the snowpack, but only a superficial description of the conditions I encountered in Baldy Bowl, written by a normal ski-mountaineer, not a snow technician.
 
Be aware that my technical terminology in English is not correct, and that my considerations are valid only for the TIMING of my tour.
 
the timing was:
- start from trailhead 6.00 am
- San Antonio ski hut approximately at 8 am
- top of San Antonio at 9.35
- starting descent at 9.50
- car 11.00.
 
Conditions of the snow:
 
Due to the hard snow I didn’t use my skins to ascend , but only boots: without crampons until the hut and with crampons above the hut.
 
- hard frozen crust, in certain points breakable, at the trailhead (Manker Flats) at 6.00 am;
 
- hard and thick crust (never breakable) starting from 200-300 meters above the trailhead;
 
- from the hut I followed the most evident SE slope (the name should be Procrastination Chute). The snow was firm, with only a bit of very superficial softening in certain points of an old avalanche path;
 
- in the last 50 meters under the ridge (I exited on the ridge between Procrastination and Zeke's Chute) there were some consolidated some-days-old wind pillows, recognizable and avoidable, and some cracks. The cracks, actually their visible part, were approximately 5-20 cm deep, 2-5 cm wide, 2-10 meters long. The snow in such part was firm at 9.15 am, and superficially softened (1 cm) at 10.00 am.

Publish this observation
Yes I would like this observation Published

a couple of cracks under the ridge, on Zeke's Chute

Firm - ski edges barely leave a track