Sweeny

Went up to check out some higher north facing terrain before the storm. Winds were gusty out of the SW and despite steep south having a supportable Sun crust there was still enough soft snow available for transport on the ridge lines. Small wind slabs were building on leeward ridges. There were a couple flakes blowing around today but no accumulation. It did look like the Bitterroot divide might have been picking up more snow as it was in the clouds all day. Quick hand pits showed the presence of loose facets near the snow surface on N facing terrain. The skiing above 8k was bad with N facing terrain consisting of predominantly breakable crust. However, lower elevation or very protected terrain still harbored soft snow. On the way out, snow surfaces on E facing terrain were moist below 5k. I think the stability is likely to decrease significantly with the incoming storm and weak snow surfaces.

Quick report