Agassiz Summit/Humphreys Summit Signaugua

We left top patrol at 9:30 with the intention of assessing wet loose instability and general coverage/conditions.  We ascended the Agassiz ridgeline to the summit.  From the summit we were able to ski to snowslide and from there walked to the Agassiz/Humphreys saddle.  Roller balls were present on a NE slope in the Humphrey cirque and likely naturally released yesterday midday.  We continued to the summit of Humphreys and arrived at 12:30 with temperatures near 37 degrees.  No other signs of instability were observed between 11:00 and 12:30.  Cornices were solid and showed no signs of collapse.  The upper chutes of SW avalanche paths were melting and are still skiable but require moving around a few exposed rocks.

From here our assessment changed to N and NE aspects.  We skied the N. Ridge of Humphreys 500 vertical feet to Sinagua.  Conditions were Pencil hard windboard of 5-15 cms in depth with 4F wind broken particles beneath.  Skiing was quite supportable and edgeable.  At around 11,500 feet the surface conditions became more variable and by 11,000 ft. the snow was wet and heavy.  These aspects have yet to move into a full melt-freeze cycle and lacked melt-freeze particles.  At the bottom of crossfire we spotted a small D1 wet loose avalanche likely occuring mid-day yesterday at approximately 11,500 feet (mid-slope) at 35-40 degrees. This was the only wet loose slide observed during the tour 

We also took note of the debris field from the March storm cycle slide in crossfire.  This avalanche was one of the few of the season to fail on a PWL and was likely HS-N-D2.5-3 and likely ran about 1,000 ft.  The crown was eroded and no longer visible.   Conifer damage from the slide appeared to be minimal. 

Slightly manky but navigable conditions continued all the way to the Aubineau TH and we were able to wear skis nearly all the way to the Aubineau TH/418 road junction.  Solar aspects are melting out quickly.

Total tour time was 6.5 hours.  

The snowpack on E to W aspects below 11,500' was isothermic in most sampled areas.  Snowpack above 11,500, especially on N facing slopes has yet to soften and is primarily windboard of P hardness.