Last Call

We took advantage of last call on the Camas Road to see how things had changed since the last obs on 12/25.

• 4" snow overnight, with snow showers dropping about an inch during the day. 
• Gusty morning winds produced some drifting snow and soft, fresh cornices sensitive to our weight. Soft drifts below the cornices did not fail with dropped chunks or ski cuts. 
• The 12/22 rain crust is obvious in snowpits and when digging into the snow, particularly at low elevations. It's 20-25 cm below the snow surface, and while there's soft snow around it, did not produce propagation in tests.
• Early season crusts (November and 12/9) are buried 80-105 cm below the surface and about 25 cm above the ground. They're separated by about 10 cm of soft snow with some large, well-developed facets. This layer did propagate in some tests (see snowpack tab for details). On southeasterly slopes, tests show a person can still trigger slabs on these layers. On northerly slopes, test results suggest it would be difficult for a person to trigger slabs unless in a shallow spot. However, sustained storms might be enough loading for this layer to fail naturally. 
• We felt no whumpfs, and the recent snow did not feel slabby except in areas exposed to upslope or crossslope winds. 

Thanks, DW, for the fine uptracks!

We mostly skied gladed, moderately-angled slopes with a few steeper rollovers. Could have gone for more rounds, but sadly, the establishment kicked us out and swept the floors.