xx2016xx

Pit 11 27.09.2016

Pit results had 10cm of new snow on an ice layer 5cm thick with slushy melt / freeze forms below. Got easy results on 3rd hit compressing the 10cm melt freeze layer. Cracks around skis were very obvious. With the more new snow coming on later in the week the ice layer 10cm down could be a concern.

Pit 10 23.09.2016

The snow pack is wet and very heavy ATM.

Pit 9 13.09.2016

The snow pack is wet and very heavy ATM. Natural avalanches are being seen in the areas north of Thredbo and north of Guthega Trig. The snow has stabilised and the test results were mixed. There is a persistent weak layer down around 100 cm that could cause a large avalanche. Be careful on steep solar aspects.

Pit 8 11.09.2016

pIT 7 04.09.2016

The snow pack is wet and very heavy ATM. Natural avalanches are being seen in the areas north of Thredbo. The snow has stabilised and the test results were mixed. There is a persistent weak layer down around 80-90cm that could cause a large avalanche. Be careful on steep solar aspects.

Pit 6 20.08.2016

The recent new snow that fell on the 19th of Aug and continued until 21st of Aug has created a 30-40 cm Wind slab on all lee slopes (NE Aspects). This wind slab has not bonded well to the melt freeze ice layer from the warm temperatures of the past 2 weeks. We did get a CTE (6) Resistant planar on the ice layer down at 30 cm. Class 2 signs of instability were noticed while touring from 1300m to 1700m.Very easy results on hand shear tests and cracking under skis was noticed.

Pit 5 14.08.2016

The NSW Main Range snowpack is very stable at the moment. No results on column test. Medium results on hand shear test all day from 1600m to 1800m.

Pit 4 24.07.2016

There was a large rain event on 21-22 of July with 125 mm of precipitation. This has washed away 80 cm of the snow pack. We then had a 15 cm snowfall that has fallen on the rain effected snow pack. The snow that fell on the night of the 22nd of July has fallen and bonded well to the melt freeze from the rain event. The snow that fell on the 23rd of July has a different density (Dryer) and has not bonded to the wetter snow from the beginning of the storm.

Pit results are as bellow

CTM (2) RP @12 cm

CTH (2) RP @ 33 cm

We did a burpee test at got RP @ 10,20 and 35 cm See below photo

Pit 3 17.07.2016

The recent new snow that fell on 12/13 of July has created a 85 cm Wind slab on all lee slopes (NE Aspects). This wind slab has bonded well to the melt freeze ice layer from the previous rain event on the 8th of July. We did get a CTM (16) Resistant planar on the ice layer down at 85 cm. All other tests were medium to hard results. NO signs of instability were seen on the lee slopes.

Pit 2 10.07.2016

With the rain that fell during the week the snow pack has now become Saturated. The buried surface hoar has decomposed into melt forms and has bonded well. There were no results from Compression test and there were no signs of instability on lee slopes north facing. The snowpack has shrunk from 90cm to 40 cm

Pit 1 03.07.2016

Did some digging on a North East aspect @ 1780m.
Snowpack depth 90cm.
Had easy results on hand shear quick test from 1680 to 1800m.
The snow pack has a 10mm melt freeze layer on the surface. Buried surface hoar is still present at 12cm and 45 cm. We were getting easy results on the 12cm layer but hard results on the 45cm layer
See results below
Buried surface hoar present @ 12cm, and 45cm.
Crystal size 4-6mm.
CT E 8 SC @12 cm on Surface hoar
CT H 28 SC @ 45cm on surface hoar
We will continue to monitor the buried surface hoar.
The melt freeze layer on the surface may become an issue with the next new snow storm coming this week with predicted 20-30 cm of snow