Mt. Ellis

Mt. Ellis

Date
Activity
Skiing

No big surprises. Sun early gave way to overcast skies by ~2pm. Moderate west wind really only felt in the meadow and right at the ridgeline. At the ridgeline, ~8" of low density snow from recent storm cycle not bonded well to melt/freeze crust from last weekend. Easily slides off in hand shear tests, but has not yet formed a cohesive slab. I saw little to no evidence of significant wind slab formation. 

I dug near the summit and found 2 melt/freeze layers with weaker snow throughout. Consistent with recent forecasts, these weak layers were unreactive, producing ECT-X result. Snowpit attached. 

@ lower elevations, snow was generally faceted, thinner and weak. 2-3 inches of new snow in the meadow area. 

Obviously everything is likely to change in the next few days with warm weather in the forecast. 

Region
Bridger Range
Location (from list)
Mt Ellis
Observer Name
Chris Pierce