Observations from Tamarack Peak

Location Name: 
Tamarack Peak
Region: 
Mount Rose Area
Date and time of observation: 
Sat, 03/15/2014 - 14:30
Location Map: 
United States
39° 19' 0.3288" N, 119° 55' 5.7288" W
See map: Google Maps
US


Red Flags: 
Obvious avalanche path
Observation made by: Forecaster
Snowpit Observations
More detailed information about the snowpack: 

The snow surface in the areas traveled from 8,600' and 9,800' during the afternoon hours remained transitional on NW-N-NE aspects and was in melt phase on all other aspects. NW-N-NE aspects held a mix of shallow unconsolidated snow unaffected by melt freeze, wind packed snow, and patches of melt-freeze crust. On solar aspects, up to 7 cm of surface wet snow was noted with underlying crust or higher density snow keeping conditions supportable well into the afternoon hours. Any observed wet snow instability was limited to small and inconsequential human triggered roller balls.

Photo 1: Top of Proletariat Bowl at 2:30 pm, E aspect  9,780' (noted lat/long). 5 cm of surface wet snow on top of 10 cm of 1F to P hard melt freeze crust. Repeated ski/snowboard traffic yielded only minor roller balls at that time.

Photo 2: SSE aspect 8,900' at 2:40 pm. 5 cm of surface wet snow on top of 15 cm of 4F hard wet snow. Ski pen 4 cm, boot pen 15 cm.

Snowpack photos: 
Weather Observations
Blowing Snow: 
No
Cloud Cover: 
Clear
Air temperature: 
Above Freezing
Wind Speed: 
Light
Air temperature trend: 
Warming
Wind Direction: 
East