South Side: Timberline

The snowpack is wet and often unsupportable on the south side after four days of no refreeze. I observed a couple of recent natural wet loose throughout the day and plenty of cornice shed in the Zigzag Canyons. Natural wet loose activity has generally tapered, but the snowpack remains sloppy enough that pushing small wet loose was still possible on steep rolls. The snowpack becomes much firmer and more supportable above 8000 ft due to strong alpine winds. 

Instability was confined to steep slopes that harbor wet, mushy snow.

The snowpack is wet and beaten up after several warm days and strong winds. We're losing snow rapidly at lower/mid elevations or on windward aspects that were previously scoured, particularly in White River Canyon where west aspects are nearly bare. The surface becomes more supportable and refrozen above 8000 ft thanks to strong alpine winds. I would have wanted ski crampons if I decided to continue further beyond Palmer.

Pit location @ SE, 6000 ft: I ended up digging in a shallow spot with an HS of 100 cm, but the surrounding areas had depths ranging from 180-220 cm. At this pit location, the snowpack is wetted to the ground. The 3/8 remains a prominent marker in the snowpack and really isn't much of a crust anymore due to meltwater percolation. Snowpack test yielded unremarkable results. 

Throughout the day, my boot pen ranged from 35-50 cm below 8000 ft. Icy, supportable surfaces became more widespread above this.