Observation type
Snowpack

Observer
Anonymous 

Keep me anonymous if published
yes

Location (general area)
Eastern San Gabriel Mountains

Latitude

Longitude

Date (yyyymmdd)
20210207

Time
1130

Road conditions to area

Temperature
45F

Sky
clear (no clouds)

Wind speed
Calm (smoke rises vertically)

Wind direction
not observed

Wind direction in degrees

Slope aspect
North

Aspect in degrees

Slope angle
30

Elevation
7600ft

Snow depth
75cm

Boot/ Ski penetration

Precipitation
None

Activity, recent avalanches
No

Brief description

Whumphing noises, shooting cracks. collapsing
no

Rapid warming
no

Obvious avalanche path
no

Terrain trap
no

Comment
Toured up a mostly North facing ridge after an unseasonably warm week following last Thursday's dumper--with suitably low expectations. Temp was 36F at 6200ft at 8:30am; never got below freezing overnight.

Uphill travel required a bit of hiking and some creative (read: bushwacking) roues to stay on aspects that had not yet melted out. We decided to call it at ~7,800ft, have a snack, enjoy the lovely weather, and wait for the snow to soften. There were a few decent turns to be had on the descent, but mostly just punchy melt/freeze crap.

Dug a pit on a 30 degree slope at ~7500ft on the way back down at around 11:30. Depth was 75cm on a NNW shaded aspect, with a 1F hard surface followed by a P hard melt/freeze layer lurking between about 46-51cm from the ground. Below that was firm, consolidated snow. Quick column test confirmed that the snowpack is cohesive and well bonded.

Enjoy that corn skiing where you can get it, but keep your fingers crossed we get another round of storms to build on this base before it melts out.

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