Quick report
Our party arrived at the Convict Lake Trailhead with the intention to boot up and ski the Pinner Couloir. The air temperature was 35F at the trailhead (~7,600') at 5:00. With the warm temperatures and suspected superficial refreeze, we changed our plan to ascend via the northeast ridge. We made it to the top of Laurel Mountain by 9:00 without the need to switch out of our hiking boots. What snow surfaces we did cross on the ascent were supportable. Despite wind in the forecast, there was none at the summit. By 9:45 we were descending from the top of the Pinner Couloir. Conditions were deceiving. While the top was firm, just 100 feet below the snow was already cooking to slush. We had approximately 500 feet of smooth snow and good skiing before we encountered consistent wet slide debris that proved frustrating to ski. Shortly below that there were two mandatory downclimbs that had melted out. We were happy to reach the apron and the relatively better conditions that it held compared to the middle 1,500 vertical feet. Despite the warm conditions and signs of prior wet slides, no instability was observed. Looking across to the Morrison Col we saw a pair of beautiful tracks cutting straight down from the top. There was good corn to ski, just not in the Pinner Couloir.