Professional Observation - Apgar Lookout, Glacier National Park

Location Name: 
Professional Observation - Apgar Lookout, Glacier National Park
Region: 
Glacier National Park - Apgar Range
Date and time of observation: 
Wed, 01/27/2016 - 12:30
Location Map: 

Red Flags: 
Recent loading by new snow, wind, or rain
Rapid warming
Observation made by: Professional Observer
Snowpit Observations
More detailed information about the snowpack: 

We skinned up the lookout trail chosing a relatively low risk option given the current conditions.  Despite being at a relatively low elevation and in in area not known for its avalanche hazard, its important to recognize that we still found instabilities and reactive layers.  The upper layers of the snow pack were "pinwheeling" just from snow dropping off the small trees.  The lower rain crust layer (70 cm) reacted with Hard force, but with propagation and a Q1 release with some energy.  We reversed our path back down the trail and did "ski" a low angle slope at the bottom in an area with less overall snow depth but a great deal more buried hazards (trees, stumps, logs).

Snowpit or crown profile photo or graph: 
Weather Observations
Cloud Cover: 
100% of the sky covered by clouds
Air temperature: 
Above Freezing
Wind Speed: 
Moderate (Small trees sway)
Precipitation: 
Rain
Air temperature trend: 
Warming
Wind Direction: 
Southeast
Activity: 
Skiing