Weather
Overcast to obscured skies with temperatures in the mid-twenties to near freezing. Moderate west winds, but only intermittent light blowing snow. Very light snowfall that stopped by late morning.
Snowpack
We experienced localized cracking on the new snow but not collapsing. We dug a snow pit on a north facing slope at 10,000ft in an open area. Extended column tests here did not produce propagation. Minor cracking occurred on the new/old snow interface with easy taps (ECTN6, ECTN11) but we did not find this interface to be of concern. Cracking occurred on the 3/3 layer with blows from the shoulder (ECTN25) and did not occur on the 3/14 layer. An informal extended column deep tap test targeting the 3/3 layer did not result in propagation. As we descended south facing aspects below treeline later in the day, we saw small rollerball formation.
Avalanche
We intentionally triggered wind slab avalanches on steep south and southeast convex features. These avalanches were relatively harmless to people and very small relative to path. These avalanches were breaking within the new snow rather than on the old crust (SS-ASc-R1-D1-S). We did not see any natural avalanches.