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Professional Observation

Basic Information

Observation Details

Observation Date:
December 11, 2025
Submitted:
December 11, 2025
Observer:
TAC - Charlie Harrison
Zone or Region:
Taos Area
Location:
Middle Fork Red River

Signs of Unstable Snow

Recent Avalanches? 
None Observed
Cracking? 
None Experienced
Collapsing? 
None Experienced
The snowpack I observed on North and East aspects is showing obvious signs of faceting. East aspects are more shallow and are more fully deteriorated from the ground up, whereas Northerly aspects tend to be a little bit deeper but are still faceting. There are very few signs of any cohesive slabs remaining in the area.

Bottom Line

Facets, Facets, Facets. We are trending towards having a WIDESPREAD buried weak layer by the time our next storm rolls around (which may not happen until around Christmas). Ground hazards and ride-ability are your biggest concerns out there.

Media

There's still some evidence of the slabs that formed over last weekend, but they've quickly deteriorated (faceted) during this high pressure period.
It's still early season out there. Coverage is pretty slim and consists of mainly faceted snow.
Lots of surface hoar and near surface facets on the surface of the snowpack at the mid elevations where we traveled.
Advanced faceting and the early stages of depth hoar starting to show near the ground level.
Many slopes with more solar exposure have nearly melted fully out during the high pressure period.

Advanced Information

Weather Summary

Cloud Cover:
Mostly Sunny
Temperature:
20-43
Wind:
Light , SW

Warm, sunny day that felt a lot more like typical late-March.

Snowpack Observations

As mentioned, all of the shallow snowpacks out there are faceting. Depths are anywhere from 20-80cm, and ski/boot pen is to the ground in most places.

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