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| Juneau Area Avalanche Advisory | ||||||||
| 2006-00-04 | ||||||||
| Mt. Stewart | ||||||||
| by Bill Glude, SAAC Observer | ||||||||
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| We have continued testing on Mt. Stewart this week, working hard on the AK Block research project. We have not had time to post detailed reports, but the snowpack is gradually strengthening. Our buried near-surface facet weak layer is now strong enough that we are getting fracture on it mostly with repeated very hard jumps at average to slow and irregular shear quality (AK6Q2-3).
The snowpack is quite stable at this time, though rapid warming, hard rain to elevation, or new snow could change that. The snowpack has warmed but shaded and higher elevation slopes are still mostly dry and have not gone through a rapid thaw yet. In testing today, we found 5 cm of new snow that was quite reactive where it was wind drifted. It was not enough new snow to present a concern yet, but heavy new snow could still easily result in instability. We will post more detailed reports as time allows, when snow conditions change significantly. |
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