Patrol Log for Sunday February 3, 2002

Patrollers: Cheryl Jaworowski and Rich Behounek

Trail Skied: Upper portion of Libby Creek trail.

Car Counts at 10:45 am and 2:30 pm:
Corner Mtn (0/4 cars)
Little Laramie (8/4; 2 were snowmobiles)
Sand Lake Road (1/0 cars)
Pullouts on South side (3 snowmobiles with 1 from ND/5)
End of Road (69/60; mostly snowmobiles from Co and Nb, few Mn)
Green Rock (8 cars/4 cars)
Snowy Mtn Lodge Area (16/16 snowmobiles with 1 from MN)

Comments:
Stopped by snow stake. The stake showed 16 inches of snow. Area around stake
looked packed.
Met groups using snowshoes in the Green Rock parking area and on the Libby
Creek trail. A few groups using ski also were using the trail. We spoke
about the trail and the generally low snowpack.

Snow Pit Information

General location (using Garmin 12 GPS): 13T 0398212 4577050
EPE: 21 ft with 6 satellites locked
Elevation: 10,026 ft (from GPS)

Dug 2 pits ( 1 in shade and 1 in sun) on a southeast-facing slope of 25
degrees. The air temperature was 20 degrees F.  In general, we recognized
between 5-7 layers between the 2 pits. A shovel shear test indicated easy
shears at 20 cm (bottom of a near surface wind slab) and 45 cm (top of an
ice layer).

Pit in Shade
0-5 cm: 10 degrees C at 0 cm, 1-2 mm F5 (spatial dendrites), fist hardness,
recent snow.
5-11 cm:  11 degrees C at 10 cm, 1 mm F7 (irregular columns), 4F hardness.
11-25 cm: 9 degrees C at 20 cm, 1-2 mm F7.
25-38 cm: 8 degrees C at 30 cm, 2 mm F7.
38-100 cm: 5 degrees C at 40 and 50 cm, > 2mm depth hoar, fist hardness.

Pit in Sun (Shovel Shear)
Sun Crust
0-5 cm: Fist hardness, recent snow.
5-11 cm:  2F hardness
11-20 cm: 2F hardness
20-40 cm: 4F hardness
40-45 cm: ice layer
45-62 cm: 2F hardness
62-100 cm: depth hoar

Report Submitted by Cheryl Jaworowski