25 Jan 98, 8:30 am - 4:00 pm, Snowy Range. Three to four inches of new snow on the highway from Centennial up to the end-of-the-road. Skied with Tim and Aaron Gilbertson from the Green Rock Parking Area to the first overlook of the Libby Creek Loop. Dug a snowpit at this point then skied slope down to Lower Half of Libby Creek Loop, comfortable powder slope. Met three skiers and one dog; provided duct tape repair for busted ski pole for one of the skiers. Continued up canyon to far west end of Loop then continued due west to northeast facing slopes located immediately northwest of Bear Lake. Took a few runs on nice powder slopes. Skied east-northeast to bowl southeast of point 10175 in Sec 23 T16N R79W. Took runs on northwest and south aspects of bowl. Returned to west extreme of Libby Creek Loop and returned to Green Rock via ridge. Light snow fell throughout the day, with steady westerly winds filling ski tracks in open areas.
SNOWPIT DATA Observer: Jerry Hamann Date and Time: 10:00 am, 25 January 1998 Location: First overlook point on Libby Creek Loop Trail SE Corner of SE1/4, NW1/4, Sec 24 T16N R79W Elevation: 9940 feet Surface Roughness: Smooth powder Aspect: Southeast Facing (120 degrees), Open slope well below ridgeline Incline: 21 degrees Sky: Overcast Precipitation: Light snow Wind: Moderate, W Surface snow: Loose powder Total snow depth: 146 cm Foot penetration: 85 cm Ski penetration: 26 cm =============================================================================== H (cm) R F D (mm) W Shovel Comment H (cm) T (C) =============================================================================== Air - 5 0 0 - 5 FIST Rounded < 1 dry new powder 5 - 3 21 FIST Rounded < 1 dry heavy powder 25 - 4 26 --Easy Shovel Shear to Sluff-- 4F Rounded < 1 dry soft slab 35 - 5 46 50 - 6 4F Rounded < 1 dry soft slab with light crust 57 --Difficult Shovel Shear, RB with many hard jumps 2F Rounded < 1 dry soft slab 60 - 4 75 - 4 85 4F/FIST Faceted > 1 obvious facets 85 - 3 90 1F Rounded > 1 dry sintered 100 - 2 113 --Difficult Shovel Shear, RB with many, many hard jumps 4F/Fist Faceted > 2 big facets 120 - 2 129 K ICE Solid Hard Ice to Ground 146 Ground 146 0 =============================================================================== Remarks: The new snow in the upper 26 and 46 cm appears heavy enough to provide some compaction of the lower snowpack. RB, Shovel Shear, and Drop Column tests all indicated substantially better overall stability of the snowpack than previously seen in this same area earlier. On this same test slope, convexities on wind-loaded areas released sizable soft slab slides two weeks ago. Attempts to ski release these same areas on this day were uneventful. Throughout the day, small loose sluffs were observed on steep slows as skied, running only a few feet beyond skied tracks. Occasional "whumpfs" heard and felt on flat aspects as well as north-northeast exposures. No obvious fractures observed on the surface. No natural releases observed in any of the terrain traveled. 8:30am 4:00pm W/trailer W/o W/trailer W/o Car Count: Green Rock 21 12 7 19 Turnout Below GR. 0 0 2 0 Little Laramie 0 0 0 0 Corner Mountain 0 0 0 1 Barber Lake Rd. 0 2 0 0 Visitors' Center 3 1 0 1 Green Rock Snow Stake Data: 43 inches