Valdez Ski and Avalanche Report March 21, 2015 (4PM)

Encountered poor ski condition in Schoolbus this morning despite sunny skies….Yesterday storm has left behind a punchy 1″ density layer at the surface that is not fun.  With no expectation of finding better snow at only the highest elevations, I resorted to some digging for information and was able to get a full measurement of the snowpack now at 125-130 inches….That is super deep for just along the roadside.

Yesterday’s data from the DOT Meteogram at the Gap Weather Site at 2800′ caught the temperature bump at noon…Overnight the temps dropped below zero. Melt freeze at the surface will continue this week with warm days and chilly nights…Buried surface hoar after the storm in undisturbed areas including unskied slopes.Below is a picture of the pit site this morning…I would rate stability as generally good on all but sunny slopes as temps will increase a bit more each day the week progresses along with some high clouds…The surface was well bonded to the underlying news snow….I observed debris from a cornice break into upper Moonlight Basin from Goodwill’s proper…

Noticed this heading back to town…All sorts of avalanche types creating chaos on Glide Crack Mt….Of note is the obvious slab release above the glide avalanche which may have been caused by the depth hoar possibilities noted in my pit profile….Solar sluffing dominates surround south aspects.