[pct-l] PCT Complete Snow Reference

Wed Nov 16 15:14:08 CST 2011

What Scott has put together, here, is a great reference to know how much 
snow is in the Sierra over the winter.

Whether we have another heavy La Nina winter or not, for all those planning 
a 2012 PCT departure date, it is important that you realistically prepare to 
encounter and learn how to safely hike over snow from Cottonwood Pass to 
Donner Pass.

Mountain Education typically runs its Snow Advanced Courses along the PCT 
during thru hiker season (May, June, July) from Kennedy Meadows to Kearsarge 
Pass, Kearsarge to Bishop Passes, and, this year also from Bishop to Mono 
Passes, so we know, first hand what it is like up along the trail, how to 
deal with the passes and creeks, and what it takes to get through without a 
problem.

You will not have snow all the way because snow level at that time of year, 
based on the last two heavy winters, is only at about 9500 feet. Once below 
that, between Passes, you will have "dry" trail amounting to mud and flowing 
water conditions. As you go lower, say to 8,000 feet, you may even find true 
dry trail.

No matter what kind of winter we get, the condition of the snow during May, 
June, and July in the Sierra above snowline will be what is called 
"consolidated," or hard-surfaced, compacted snow from the freeze-thaw cycles 
of spring. Yes, the snowpack does soften under the hot, spring sun, so it 
will not hold you up very well as the day progresses and you will fall 
through, doing what we like to call "post-holing," but if you get early 
starts each day, you will not need snowshoes, just hiker's crampons like the 
Kahtoola KTS to get safely across surface ice and morning-frozen crust 
without slipping and falling.

It is good to know how much snow is up there, but the main thing is to 
expect to have to deal with it as a thru hiker. It doesn't matter whether 
you're walking on 2 feet or 20, the techniques for safe passage are the 
same. If this winter is going to be anything like the last two and you 
expect to be travelling up the PCT during the months of May, June, and July 
between Cottonwood and Donner, learn how to snow-hike, navigate, and 
self-arrest for your own safety and peace of mind. It doesn't matter where 
you get the training/experience, but it is best if you learn on snow similar 
to where you're going (the PCT, in this case). We have a maritime snow pack 
which is a lot wetter and consolidates a lot heavier than snow on the 
Continental Divide, for example.

For your planning and preparation purposes, if you really want to know what 
the trail will look like in June when you go through as a pct thru hiker and 
what it really takes (as far as skills for navigation, creek crossings, 
traversing, and simply not falling) to snow-hike at 11,500, go up there the 
year before your hike, meet the current batch of thrus, and see for yourself 
how you'll need to prepare!

"Just remember, Be Careful out there!"

Ned Tibbits, Director
Mountain Education
South Lake Tahoe, Ca. 96150
    P: 888-996-8333
    F: 530-541-1456
    C: 530-721-1551
    http://www.mountaineducation.org
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Scott" <public at postholer.com>
To: <pct-l at backcountry.net>
Sent: Tuesday, November 15, 2011 5:15 PM
Subject: [pct-l] PCT Complete Snow Reference

> For those of you who follow PCT snow conditions through the winter,
> here's *the* collection of resources at postholer.com.
>
> Just about every link you've seen posted on the PCT-L and elsewhere will
> be found here.
>
> For registered Postholer.Com hikers is the Postholer Snow Page, with
> current and historical links to SnoTel and CDEC. It also has a chart of
> 27 stations located on or near the PCT. There is exhaustive
> current/historical data for each station, such as, SWE, daily precip,
> annual precip, min temp, max temp and snow depth where available:
>
> http://postholer.com/postholer
>
> For those of you who are more graphically oriented, here is the full
> list of NOAA/Google snow maps depicting various information on snow
> conditions, with a trail trace, distances and all the markers available
> for the PCT map (browser intensive):
>
> Snow Water Equivalence (SWE):
> http://postholer.com/gmap/gmap.php?trail_id=1&swe=1
>
> Snow depth:
> http://postholer.com/gmap/gmap.php?trail_id=1&depth=1
>
> Snow coverage:
> http://postholer.com/gmap/gmap.php?trail_id=1&cover=1
>
> 24 hour snow precip:
> http://postholer.com/gmap/gmap.php?trail_id=1&sday=1
>
> 24 hour non-snow precip:
> http://postholer.com/gmap/gmap.php?trail_id=1&rday=1
>
> 24 hour snow melt:
> http://postholer.com/gmap/gmap.php?trail_id=1&meltday=1
>
> 24 hour average snow pack temp:
> http://postholer.com/gmap/gmap.php?trail_id=1&tmpday=1
>
> Snow density:
> http://postholer.com/gmap/gmap.php?trail_id=1&density=1
>
> 24 hour SWE change:
> http://postholer.com/gmap/gmap.php?trail_id=1&sweday=1
>
> 24 hour surface snow sublimation:
> http://postholer.com/gmap/gmap.php?trail_id=1&subday=1
>
> 24 hour blowing snow sublimation:
> http://postholer.com/gmap/gmap.php?trail_id=1&bsubday=1
>
> -postholer
>
> -- 
> www.postholer.com
> _______________________________________________
> Pct-L mailing list
> Pct-L at backcountry.net
> To unsubcribe, or change options visit:
> http://mailman.backcountry.net/mailman/listinfo/pct-l
>
> List Archives:
> http://mailman.backcountry.net/pipermail/pct-l/
> All content is copyrighted by the respective authors.
> Reproduction is is prohibited without express permission. 