Crystal Backcountry: East Peak, Cement Basin, Lake Basin

We found quite a variety of conditions out there depending on aspect and elevation. Rain to 5500ft created very wet snow conditions down low. Higher, things felt much more wintery. About a dozen natural and triggered small wind slabs, showed you could get in trouble pretty quickly if you weren't paying attention to which slopes were loaded. 

Cracking was isolated to wind-loaded pockets on the lee side of ridges and exposed features. Cracks were short, only reaching 3-4ft.

Below 5500ft: Wet heavy snow capped the surface. The water seemed to penetrate about 5in (12cm). Below the snow was much drier. Rollerballs were common on all steep slopes. 

Above 5500ft: The new snow became heavy and moist on steep southerly slopes during moments of sunshine. This resulted in a barrage of rollerballs. In other locations the snow remained drier, but still much heavier than recent weeks. 

Winds: Gusty SW winds were blowing snow along ridgelines and mid-slope features. Textured surfcase, rime, sharp drifts, and cornices were common. Firm wind slabs were observed along lee slopes. Cornices weren't huge, but are getting much bigger. They failed easily with minimal effort. 

Upper snowpack: Handpits, uptrack tests, small slopes, and a snow profile didn't reveal much more that the occasional very small crack. The upper snowpack seems to be gaining strength. 

Middle and lower snowpack: A snow profile on a N aspect at 6500ft showed all of the major recent layers. Some still appear very weak, however, none failed in snowpack test. In this location, the snowpack was thinner than anticipated. I thought that might result in a weaker Solstice crust, but that didn't seem to be the case.