Kendall Lakes: Gold Creek

It definately felt like the calm before the storm. Snow surfaces were variable, with crusts on southerlies, but generally well settled powder on shaded slopes. We enjoyed some nice soft snow even in the trees. 

No notable signs of instability

Southerly: A 1-2" (3-6cm) crust formed on most surfaces that saw direct sunshine over the past few days. In some places this crust was supportable, in other, it was thin and barely noticeable. Below the crust, cold dry snow remained. 

Shaded: Small near surface facets (0.5mm) were found in most areas. The upper snowpack consists of well settled storm snow that was strong and right-side-up. While we could see several layers and interfaces, they didn't fail in any tests or on small test slope. 

Wind: Very minor drifting was observed above 5000ft, but no wind slabs were encountered. Blowing snow increased as wind speeds ramped up in the around 12pm.