Weather
Some light drifting at the summit today. More significant drifting occurred during yesterday's NW wind event. cloud cover: overcast; wind loading: previous; recent snowfall (cm): 2; snow avail for transport: small smounts
Snowpack
With regards to our future persistent weak layer, which is at or just below the snow surface right now: The snowpack is typically thin and weakest near or below treeline, and is more wind-affected, with less-developed near-surface facets above treeline. A few quick hand pits in sheltered terrain didn't reveal any buried surface hoar, but I'm not sure it will make a difference because the facets that make up most of the snowpack now are growing larger and weaker with each day. They're about 1mm and fist hard now. . We observed frequent collapses (about a dozen) on previously drifted N to NE aspects N/ATL failing 1 to 2 feet deep on basal facets. Below 11,500, they would radiate less than 10 feet, confined to small gullies and concavities. As we ascended higher, collapses spanned larger terrain features up to 50 feet or so. At these higher elevations, collapses sometimes required stomps or were triggered by the 2nd or 3rd person on the skin track.