Medicine Bow Nordic Ski Patrol
Patrol Log: Saturday, January 17, 2004: M. Hotchkiss

We skied the Libby Creek Trail on Saturday.  It was a beautiful sunny 40°F day with no wind.  The trail is in good condition, e.g. no rocks showing.  Softer snow for turns could be found in the shady areas, but sunny areas were crusty and not much fun to ski. Although there were 30 cars in the Green Rock parking lot, there were only 5-6 people on the Libby Creek Trail.

 Location: 13 3982218 N
                   45 77059  E
Elevation: 9,953 ft
Air Temp: 12° F
Sunny day with no wind.
Total Snow Depth: 42”
Slope Angle: 20 degrees SE facing

Snow Pit Data
20-23” fist hardness with sunbaked crust on top, -3°C
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18-20” 2 finger hardness, -6°C
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14-18” soft layer, fist hardness, crystals smaller than 2mm, -6°C
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12-14” hard layer, 1 finger hardness, -5°C
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8-12” soft layer, 3 finger hardness, 2mm+ crystals, late stages of ET, -3°C
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6-8” hard pack layer, 1 finger hardness, -5°C
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0-6” depth hoar, fist hardness, large rounded 2mm crystals, -5° C at ground

Shovel Shear Test
The snow pack failed with hard  pressure at the 2nd  hard layer from the top.
The next failure was at the depth hoar layer with more pressure.

Car Count
AM      Corner Mnt: 1    Little Laramie: 0  Below Cattleguard: 67   Above Cattleguard: 28        Green Rock: 30   Above GreenRock: 50
PM      Corner Mnt: 0    Little Laramie: 3   Below Cattleguard: 83   Above Cattleguard: 26       Green Rock: 6   Above GreenRock: 40


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Page last modified January 21, 2004
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