Quick report
Toured up the south side Lichtenberg in some beautiful morning sunshine, the clouds held back by the Cascade Crest. There was anywhere from several inches to multiple feet of snow atop the JDL, with the variability in that range increasing with elevation. Greatest variability was at the summit, where open glades with a couple inches above the crust were right next to deep drifts within the trees. Evidence of wind transport above 5000’, but there was no cohesiveness to wind-blown snow. Anywhere the sun could have touched in the past few days had a thin, breakable sun/melt-freeze crust (or two in some spots) somewhere within the snowpack. No signs of avalanche activity were observed on the way up or from the view from the summit. Took the south rib down from the summit instead of the big chute to maximize powder turns and avoid the worst crusts. Minimal sloughing and roller balling on the way down. Clouds overcame the Crest around noon, hiding the sun, and it started snowing at 1 pm. Next to no wind all day. I did dig a pit since I could use the practice, at 4900’, southern aspect. See attached picture. 2 m of snow at this spot, with the JDL 40 cm down, a 5 cm frozen layer. Snow was right side up, 4F to fist above the JDL and bonding well to it. The grains immediately below were 1F at the weakest, around 1 mm in size, and the layer felt more like patchwork than an actual layer. There were two thin crusts above the JDL in this spot.