Widespread Wind Effects on Silver Peak

Touring into Silver Peak today, we immediately saw that the strong E and NE winds had ripped through the area. Places in below treeline terrain that are normally protected had wind effects like firm wind packed surfaces, debris on the surface, and uneven scoured textures. In the below treeline terrain on northerly aspects, some areas of soft snow were mixed in with these wind-sculpted surfaces.

We also found the Dec 11 facet layer easily with pole probes and hand pits. While this facet layer seems to have gained some strength, it still felt weak. The snow above it also felt less slab-like. Snowpit tests targeting this layer confirmed those general observations and mostly did not show unstable results. We also did a test in which we added a 4-inch slab of snow to the top of the snowpack. Testing the Dec 11 facet layer with this added slab resulted in unstable results. This could indicate that the Dec. 11 facet layer may become problematic if it gets loaded with more snow (see video).

Once we got higher on the peak, the wind effects became even more widespread. The snow surface variability increased. The exposed upper slopes were scoured and uneven and firm. While the wind was blowing hard enough to transport snow we did not see any snow moving around due to the previous scouring. Below the ridge in typically sheltered terrain, one turn would be on wind board and the next in breakable wind crust and the next in soft snow.