Juneau Area Avalanche Advisory
2005-11-10
Mt. Troy
by Bill Glude, SAAC Observer
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We found surprisingly dry weather today after a couple days of rain to 600m. The snowpack thinned and settled as predicted, making for easy fast travel, and 10-15 cm of fresh snow over the still-wet thaw layer leavened the surface.

There were no signs of instability today. On our test slope in the upper West Bowl of Mt. Troy, all three test blocks again yielded moderately hard #5 (second harder jump) shears at Q2 (average shears) on 39°. But today's blocks all fractured on the wet snow - ground interface. The weak facet layer we found two days ago has become rounded grains now. Though it still showed up in shears while excavating the blocks, the blocks themselves all slid on the ground.

Snowcover is adequate for travel, but has thinned below 500 m and wet spots are common. We skied great care to the bottom of Ptarmigan, and found 71 cm of snow on the higher slopes.
Field Notes
Photos
Today's test site was adjacent to the one from the 8th. We again had the same #5 test values (second, harder jump) on all three blocks. All were Quality 2 (average clean shears). But today's blocks all fractured at the wet snow - ground interface, instead of on top of the facets, which are now rounds. There also were no bushes in the lower layers, and we moved our blocks several times until we found sites free of the small trees that show in the foreground.
Snowcover is adequate on the upper slopes of Mt. Troy, at 71 cm, but still requires care to avoid rocks and creeks.
The lower mountain lost snow in the thaw of the last two days, and even Hilda Meadows has water and brush hazards like this to dodge. We picked our way to the bottom of the Ptarmigan lift on skis, though.
Muskeg ponds and streams are wet again, even in Hilda Meadows. But there is enough snow between them for travel with care.
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