Business Up Front, Corn Party in The Back

We went to the Swan Range to scout out a new weather station for the FAC. Thanks to our friends group we will have more wind data next winter! We also decided to look for wet snow instabilities along the way.

• We found between 1 and 12" of dry, wintry snow on true north-facing slopes at middle and upper elevations. In some open areas we saw 1 to 3mm surface hoar on top of a thin crust. In sheltered areas, the surface hoar sat directly on top of soft faceted snow. Something to think about if more precip comes in with colder temps and little wind.
• On east, south, and west aspects we found stable, melt-freeze snow with good corn skiing in the afternoon. We did see some very small rollerballs originating from rocks on the same aspects. Our ski cuts on these slopes had no results.
• We documented several glide cracks opening on west and southwest aspects at middle elevations. We also saw many D1-D2 loose wet avalanches that ran last week.
• On northwest middle and upper elevations we found that the newer snow is still transitioning to moist. It was not saturated enough to lose cohesion and become a concern today.
• Northeast aspects were generally wind affected and remained firm and unappealing.
• We skied steep southeast and west facing slopes which were still stable, quality spring snow around 3pm.