Meiss

Easy travel into Meiss today, with a well packed trail and several spurs through the boulders. We shouldered our skis and hiked a lot of it. In sheltered areas along the approach, a surface hoar layer was observed at the surface. We didn't see this again in Meiss proper - likely due to winds.  The ridge above Meiss was windy and cool, but we didn't see any current wind transport. Only an inch or two of snow from yesterday was on top of the very firm mid-December rain crust. I dug in the same location as on Dec 20th and found a much shallower and weaker snowpack. Where there was 3ft on the 20th, today it was scoured back to the rain crust at 1.5ft. Where facets were moist at the ground on the 20th, today they were dry and weak. There was a second faceted layer mid-pack. We were surprised to find the wind scouring extended well below ridgetop. Pole probing during our descent indicated a similarly shallow and weak snowpack below the crust. Even in the main gully exit from Meiss, where there's typically deep wind deposits, the surface had been scoured back to the supportable rain crust prior to yesterday's meager snowfall, and we chose to walk instead of skin to avoid an extra transition. Boot penetration all the way up the gully was limited to yesterday's snow.

Shallow and weak snowpack observed, capped by a very strong mid-December rain crust with a dusting on top. Now that the snowpack has been reduced back to that rain crust, faceted layers under it may be losing strength again.