Today our objective was to get more information on the buried persistent weak layers in Southern GNP. We observed no cracking, no collapsing, no avalanches, and no propagating pit tests. What we did find was an impressively stout crust on the surface and a poor snowpack structure above 6000'. I'll sum it up by elevation from the bottom up:
- 4600' to 5000': mostly dirt with patches of crusty snow
- 5000' to 6000': 2" to 4" pencil to knife hard crust. A few areas we found two crusts at the surface with facets between. The bottom crust appeared to look more like a rain crust and top looked more melt-freeze.
- 6000' to 6300': Crust became breakable and progressively thinner. Disappeared at around 6400'.
- 6400' to 6800': Found exceptionally poor snowpack structure with stable results.
With such poor snowpack structure, we did not feel confident tipping the slope angle past 35 degrees in upper elevations. At mid-elevations we green-lighted it and rode on slopes up to 40 degrees due to the supportable crust on the surface.
