Republic Creek Observation

From email: "Steve Harvey and I did a quick pit yesterday (12/16/2024) S. of Cooke in Republic Creek. E. aspect; 9.085'; 30° slope; HS 80 c; 12:30PM, Calm/cool (teens), Lt snow.

ECTN21; ECTP24 at 50 cm on buried facets. We declined to continue on slope.

We didn't perform a detailed profile, but generally, fist (new snow) and 4-finger above buried facets and progressively 2-finger to 1-finger below.

Noticeable Issues:

(1) Low and variable snowpack, 30cm or less under/near trees and on wind-scoured aspects and loading in fetch zones. Something to keep in mind as season progresses with  potential sweet spots in predictable places.

(2) Buried 50 cm facets/hoar that is essentially everywhere in Cooke City zone.

(3) We did not observe buried deep facets at the base of the snowpack."