Detailed Observation
Date | 2019-12-18 |
Location | Eastern Alaska Range |
Observer | James Pyke |
Avalanche | N |
General Observations
We climbed and skied from above the Devil's Thumb on 12/18/19. We dug a pit at around 3500' on a SW aspect on the ascent. The snowpack was 115cm deep and had two finger progressing to one finger density to the ground. A column test resulted in no failures (CTN). I pried the column off the ground and it stayed together and even pulled ground cover out with it. Encouraging to see a dense base layer after these cold temps, seems we may have enough depth to insulate against a deep facet layer for now.
The skiing was tolerable, wind board with a little soft snow drifted on top in places. It was also nice to top out above the inversion layer and get some warm temps in the middle of winter.
Uploaded Images
![](https://dev.alaskasnow.org/wp-content/uploads/gravity_forms/5-7eee4c1135d8f721cccb14870944dffe/12/2019/IMG_6987.jpg)
![](https://dev.alaskasnow.org/wp-content/uploads/gravity_forms/5-7eee4c1135d8f721cccb14870944dffe/12/2019/IMG_6980.jpg)