Quick report
Low expectations are easily exceeded. We have all seen and skied far worse. A solid base, fast travel, and some nice surfaces characterize our current reality: a favorable set-up for what may come.
We experienced no instabilities in the field today. Isolated windslab above 7000' (1F hard, 10-15cm thick) was limited in extent and unreactive to ski cutting.Weather
- Cloud Cover
- scattered
- Wind Loading
- light
- Snow Avail For Transport
- moderate amounts
In spite of high winds aloft, we experienced remarkably little wind. Adjacent ridgelines were streaming with spindrift. We emerged from the pervasive valley cloud just below 5000' and temps. warmed with elevation. Calm and pleasant in the sunshine at the Saddle.
Snowpack
Snow surface from valley bottom to glacier saddle was mainly faceted powder (15-25cm). The Dec.7 melt-freeze crust was about 1cm thick and supportable but edgeable, extending to approx. ~7000' in the Silver Star drainage. It seems to support a good bond with overlying previous storm snow and more-recent wind deposits.
Snow depths Near Treeline hover around 120cm
On the glacier, snowdepth over glacier ice ranges from 150 - 190cm. Crevasses are obvious, but more extensive and less filled-in than the norm.
A test pit at 7750' on the glacier had a snowdepth of 175cm. The Dec.7 crust was absent. The Dec.3 crust was down 55cm, P hard, and 30cm thick with a favorable bond to overlying snow layers. Stability tests were unremarkable, yielding resistant results on DF's down 25cm, which may coincide with the Dec.7 interface in this location. Overall, the alpine snowpack ranged from F to P hardness with no layers of concern. Ski pen of about ~25cm allowed for both efficient travel and favorable ski quality.
Below treeline, travel is bumpy but better than it looks. The alders are robust and about as bad as they look.