Quick report
Toured up Powderhouse Peak with a goal to dig a snowpit and look at new storm snow interface and basal facets. On the way up, there was evidence of wind effect starting at 8700' through to the summit; the top 100' was the only wind slab development we saw on our tour, and it broke in small plates while skiing but we did not observe shooting cracks. We dug a snow pit below the summit in a sheltered non-wind impacted area HS95cm. CT results showed many upper layers collapsing under pressure but not propagating in ECT. All ECT fractures were directly under the shovel blade and did not propagate. Basal facets seem to be rounding. Ski quality was excellent with careful terrain selection , aiming for deep pockets, and watching for barely covered rocks and logs, especially at lower elevations. In the afternoon, we felt the warming effect of above-freezing temps start to firm up the surface snow. We did not observe signs of slab instability throughout the day.