Observation: Douglas Island

Location: Troy Saddle

Date:
Observer:
Route & General Observations

Turned left at the Troy Saddle to dig on a west aspect knoll that continues off into steeper terrain and towards false Troy.
Snow was warming powder on a supportive crust. Lots of roller balls/ debris in steep places. Bigger debris approaching Troy summit, maybe a cornice drop?

Weather & Snow Characteristics
Please provide details to help us determine the weather and snowpack during the time this observation took place.
Weather

Breezy, moving clouds, periods of sun. Solar warming. Light snow falling.

Snow surface

Warming powder. Cream cheese, but maybe lite, nonfat whipped creme cheese with powder characteristics. Snow was firm,fun, and poppy. Down lower, warmer surface snow but supportive and fun skiing out the meadows. Lovely.

Snowpack

We dug west facing at approx 2600’ on a 25-30 degree knoll just in the lee of the Troy saddle ridge. The area showed signs of wind and wind loading. In this spot more than 400 cm of snow.

CT 15/ ECTP 12 35 cm down. On a very thin interface, but above a firmer bed surface. This interface was evident while digging the pit.
We also noted a layer at 60 cm but that was not reactive in our tests and that around 120 cm, the blocks seemed to sheer off easy w shovel pry but not in ct/ect.

Photos & Video
Please upload photos below. Maximum of 5 megabytes per image. Click here for help on resizing images. If you are having trouble uploading please email images separately to staff.