Adirondack CommunityAvalanche Project

Observation Details

We observed a stable snowpack on Saturday as we ascended Orebed brook, and then the NE slides of Saddleback. We began the day at JBL (2,316') where 2-3 inches of snow had fallen overnight and was sitting ontop of a crust. As we made our way up the brook, the crust became thinner and thinner, completely disappearing around 3,000 ft. We estimate that 6-8 inches had fallen at higher elevations Friday night.

We dug our pit at 3640' on a NNE aspect, 29° slope and found a stable snowpack. We recorded 230cm of snow, and dug down 100cm to conduct our column tests. Hardness profile showed a steady gradient from Fist --> 4F --> 1F with no noticeable layers.

Compression Test Results:

CT-5, Q3: Top 17cm of snow compacted and settled noticeably, but no cohesive slab observed; shear quality was Q3, irregular and rough.

ECT-X: We tested an isolated 30x90cm column and found compaction of the fresh snow at the top of the pack, with no reaction.

*The broken layer you see on top of the ECT in the photo only broke into chunks when disturbed by a shovel after the ECT; this did not fail during the test*

In light of the interesting column test result, but not seeing any reaction in the ECT, we felt comfortable continuing up the slide, and skied the left finger of the smaller slides lookers left on the NE face. Second lap was on the lookers right tree edge of the main slide, and the hallway hard right. Wind had picked up later in the day, and we noticed pockets of snow forming a thin slab (1-2"), with a couple small pockets releasing as we descended. Another we talked to mentioned the same.