Weather
Hot, still air up high. Cooler air trapped in the valley bottoms.
Snowpack
We experienced rampant long-running cracks in every below-treeline and near-treeline meadow we crossed between Middle Cement Creek and Hunter Pass. We could see the cracks shoot out in front of our snowmobiles as we moved, generally in the 100-150 foot range. Digging into the snowpack confirmed that the cracks ran through the Valentine's Day slab into the facets below. An ECT in an area that just cracked produced no results. This uppermost slab was around a foot and a half deep in this zone. The slabs became stiffer, and the slab depth became much more variable as we moved above treeline. Around mid-day sun-exposed snow surfaces in the alpine went from dry to wet over the course of one hour.