Shallow and Soft on Martis Peak

Martis Peak seemed like a place where a shallow weak snowpack could be lurking, so we took the sleds in to explore the area and look for weak snow. As soon as we left the truck we noticed thin snow cover on the southerly and westerly aspects. We also noticed a thin rain crust that the sleds easily broke through. As we got above 7300 ft, the rain crust disappeared and coverage improved. We ventured off the road to see how the snowpack felt and quickly found out that weak snow existed below the surface. The snowpack would support our sleds unless we carved a tight turn or throttled the sled too hard. In those cases, the track would instantly sink through the upper snowpack into the old weak snow (Dec 11 facets). When we stepped off our sleds we would sink almost to the ground in the weak snow.

Farther up on the peak we circumnavigated a known avalanche path on low angle terrain and did not see any signs of previous avalanche activity. We did continue to feel the Dec 11 facets as we traveled. The upper snowpack also remained soft and did not have much in the way of slab characteristics. We did not see any obvious signs of instability like whumpfs or shooting cracks. We found a representative spot to dig a snowpit and the data confirmed what we had been feeling all day. Soft recent snow existed in the upper snowpack with the old weak Dec 11 facets below. Snowpit tests indicated that the Dec 11 facets could support the current load in this spot for now. 

During our ride, the weather remained unsettled with clouds and light snow flurries alternating with periods of sun. The flurries did not produce any accumulation. Winds would gust strong enough to transport snow along exposed ridgelines at times, but we did not see any signs of wind slab instability.