Quick report
Route: Eddies to just below the headwall (2500'), and down the northerly facing bowl Weather: Broken skies with low clouds occasionally obscuring nearby peaks. Occasional very light snow, not accumulating throughout the day. Temps felt in the teens, and occasional light winds from the east or south above 2000' Snow Surface/Snowpack: Generally, we found 2-16" of soft snow sitting over the very stout melt freeze crust that formed during early February, with the depth of snow determined by how exposed an area has been to winds over the past month. The snow surface featured 1" of new snow - shiny intact stellars! - that have fallen in the past 24 hours, showing no signs of wind effect. This new snow sat on 2-10" of soft snow from the March 6-7 storm, with more soft snow in wind protected areas and less snow in the places that are most susceptible to winds... like the uptrack ridgeline above 2000'. Frequent ski pole probing and hand pits were used to evaluate slab character, and where/whether any facets that formed over the 2/10 crust may present a problem today, and in the future. In places that often experience wind along the uptrack, we found the March snow well bonded to the 2/10 crust, with no noticeable weak layers/failures in hand tests, though most of the slab over the crust is still quite soft and would break apart without much force. At low elevation, wind protected areas, and in an isolated wind sheltered pocket on a north aspect near 2000', ski pole probing revealed several inches of loose, 1mm facets sitting on the 2/10 crust, with a firmer but still soft slab on top. This slab failed with easy force in hand pits, and while we couldn't get a test slope to crack, a large isolated block of snow failed as a skier stepped on it - see photo below. Overall, these pockets of facets appeared quite isolated along our route, and frequently any slab over them was still quite soft and shallow.