Quick report
We continue to have the variety of surfaces. Wind board was staying dry and firm, the facet pow was still dry and soft in sheltered polars, and the solars were surprisingly crisp given the temps and sun. The solar riding was punchy with the crust not being supportable and giving way to the faceted snow underneath. Once the solars went into the shade it felt like there was a 15 degree drop in temps. A light W-NW downslope breeze kept the skinning temps nice and the surfaces cool. Overall the snow is staying quite nice with enjoyable riding. The lower moraine is trending towards bleak with the mahogany and sage offering that trap door experience due to the thinning snowpack at the lower elevations. One could argue for ski crampons for some of the firming skinning on steeper terrain.
Weather
- Cloud Cover
- clear
Snowpack
Of note, the SE aspect of Old Man's Bowl at 10,050ft had moist snow for the top 3cm. Under this was a 4cm melt-freeze crust that was still frozen in the direct sun at the peak of it's intensity. Below this were facets that were still mostly dry. Height of snow was 65cm with boot pen being 30cm.