Crater Lake Spliboarding - Garfield Ridge

The second day of backcountry play at Crater Lake was going to be a bit of a mystery to us since it had been raining non stop in the low lands since we returned from our Saturday's session of snowblast.  We decided to head up to  the ridge that gains access to Garfield Peak and then dig a pit towards the top and see what the snow conditions were.  Where it rained all day/night in the low country, that precip was in the shape of snow up at Crater Lake.  There was lots of new snow and it was time to figure out just how much and just what kind....short version...over a foot of fresh...and it was on the heavy side.

We zigged and zagged our way up the steep ridge and then found a good place to dig a pit.  We got our shovels out and started the due diligence...after digging a pit, we shaped a column to perform the compression test.  The first thing we noticed in the snow pack was that there was a warm rotten layer (big layer) about 14 inches down.  It appears like there was a warm up for a few days and then the new storm rolled in and dumped about a foot of new snow on that rotten layer.   That new snow must have insulated the lower/deeper layer which remained 'marbly'.   We figured that it did not get cold enough for that layer to re-freeze since it was still 'wet'.

The compression test yielded alarming results...after three light whacks on top of the column with our shovels the column started to collapse at the first weak layer which was higher than we expected:  about 5 inches down.  It look like it was Sunday's snowpack on top of Saturdays windblown or rain pack.  We quickly concluded we would stay in the lower angles in the trees and avoid anything that looked like a an avie path/terrain.

We re-ran the tests on a second column and found the same results...we then also dug a bigger block to do the block test, and just weighting the block started to show the weakness.  It was pretty sobering.  In our minds we realized certain slopes would be red and we would stay away from those!

After filling in the hole we dug, we went into ride mode and found amazing snow and riding through the trees!  There was only 1 other person out exploring while we were out.  It turns out he was a park employee who lived at the base of the ridge...pretty good spot to work/live/play!

On our way down, Bob approached a series of rocks that he caught just in time before core shotting his board or catching about 20 feet of air....

All in all, it was an awesome weekend shared in the backcountry.  Each time we head out down there, we get a little smarter about the opportunities that the terrain offers, and more importantly we get a little more in tune with the conditions down there.

The snowpack is definitely sketch due to the windloads, amount of snowfall, and the weak layers.  This could be an issue if it does not get cold enough up there for that layer to freeze and bond.  The lesson served as an incentive to go back and bone up on wet slabs and avie literature....

As the show Hill Street Blues line goes 'Let's be careful out there!!'

Some pix: