Quick report
Key takeaways: 1. Cornices: Despite strongly inverted temperatures, few if any of the large cornices at upper elevations have fallen. 2. Crust and dry snow: the melt-freeze crust is thin or even non-existent in some places above 6k', and what is under it is about 2 feet of uniformly dry snow. 3. Surface hoar and potential future step-down avalanches: the clear nights have led to surface hoar developing at many elevations. This, combined with the variable depth in the melt-freeze crust as mentioned above leads me to believe step-down avalanches could be possible after future storms. Snow observations detail: snowpack is unsurprisingly shallow below 4.5k' or so. At upper elevations, sunny inverted temperatures have led to a melt-freeze crust. However, this crust was sometimes quite thin, and on tree-sheltered non-solar aspects above 6k', it was occasionally close to non-existent, leading to small pockets of somewhat enjoyable skiing (video). In general, the crust was non-supportive to boots, and usually gave way to skis, preventing the need for ski crampons except on the most wind-scoured surfaces. At camp at about 7.1k' just northwest of Honeymoon Pass, the snow under the crust was uniform. Laying deadman tent stakes resulted in consistently dry and powdery snow for 6+". I dug a hasty shallow pit near camp, about 2' down to a stout crust, which I would guess was from December (photos). Around Tiffany Mountain large cornices loomed, and none had broken that I could see (photo). Route and weather detail: I took advantage of the sunny weather and deep Pasayten snow pack to explore a section of a ski route in the Tiffany range I've been interested in that can avoid avalanche terrain entirely. I left the Kerr sno-park, which I'm happy to report has snow down to the parking lot. This snowpack is quite thin until about 4.5k', but inverted temps in the valley, combined with snowmobile compaction on a flat road means it has stayed easily skin-able from the lot. I broke off NF 3820 at 5.2k', onto the Honeymoon Pass trail, where snow depth was markedly deeper. There were one or two intrepid snowmobilers who looked to have followed this trail within the past week or so. Though almost all deadfall was cut (thank you!), it looks like one tree fell and blocked the trail since these prior snowmobilers; no problem on skis, but sledders beware. I made camp at Honeymoon Pass, and despite temps predicted to be in the mid-30s at night, radiative cooling quickly took effect, and I was fighting gear that was wanted to freeze up. The next morning, I made my way up Tiffany Mountain via a low-angle larch-filled shoulder connecting Honeymoon Pass to Tiffany's NW shoulder. I then re-traced my ascent, collected my camp, and headed back to the car. Before descending from Honeymoon Pass at about 1:30 PM, temps felt toasty in the sun, perhaps in the upper 40s. As I approached the bottom of the road at about 3:00 PM, I could still see some frost on trees from the inversion.