Glory

We found ~5-7 inches of new snow, which, even at ridgelines, ran as loose snow on old snow surface crust on aspects ranging E-S-W, spanning to upper elevations. Above 10,000, I imagine you could find wind-affected snow on a ridgeline that would crack easily and be reactive; winds remained light to nonexistent up to the summit but are set to increase overnight.  Pretty much anything other than northerly aspects equaled the old "dust on crust" scenario. Due to warm temps, new snow bonded fairly well to the old snow surface. In steep terrain, it should be expected that this snow is easy to move. And while easy to sluff while riding and with any solar input (and will do so if the sun pops more),  overall, I'd call this a "stubborn loose" problem.

Notably, while recent snowfall remains loose, it is upside down (lower density lying atop crusted surfaces and capped with denser snowfall). If we had clear skies tomorrow (Wednesday), I'd suspect this density inversion would remedy itself within the day. However, skies remain scattered and overcast, and this snow crystal inversion may survive until Thursday when more precip arrives. This storm is warm, and with little wind, I'd expect things spanning multiple aspects and elevations to run as storm slab.