Tahoe National Forest Sierra Avalanche Center

We did a "deep" ECT test with 15cm of snow left above the crust @280cm. Result DECTN.

Pit dug at treeline in between two avalanche paths. HS greater than 5.2m, unable to probe to ground.

Pit dug in large open area in below treeline terrain. Test pit dug to look at recent storm snow. HS greater than 3.4m.

Testpit dug in crown of natural avalanche from Feb 26 to identify failure layer and assess persistence. ECTX on SH layer that failed in the avalanche. Open area below treeline terrain with near treeline wind exposure at NW end of avalanche path. Bed surface had 30cm of new snow accumulation on top of it. HS >400 cm

Test pit to examine Feb 14 rain crust. Snowpack tests results indicate that the graupel layer is not a concern at this location and that the current snowpack is in good condition to handle additional load.

Quick testpit to look at storm snow interface with Feb 14 rain crust.

Artificially loaded PST failed as soon as I touched it with the saw before I started dragging it through the target layer @ 298 cm.

Pit dug in open area below treeline with little to no previous wind loading. Testpit to look at rain layer buried in the last 24 hrs.

Deep ECT test (ECT with 15cm left above the target layer) targetting the crust snow interface @ 100cm did not fracture.