Quick report
Wind activity from the NW above 8800 feet, strong over weak layers, faceted top layer, riming.
Weather
- Cloud Cover
- few
- Wind Loading
- light
- Snow Avail For Transport
- small smounts
Mostly sunny day with relatively warm temperatures in the upper 30's to lower 40's, even in the shade of the N/NW face.
Snowpack
We toured up to Waterhouse starting at 11:45 am on the N/NW ridge, west of the more highly traveled ridge from Luther Pass. Below 8800 feet, there was much less evidence of wind activity. Above 8800 feet, there was evidence of NW wind. 150 feet vertical from Grass Lake, coverage was still low with light rock strikes every once in a while. At 8800 feet, HS was 115 cm with a soft crust at 111 cm, harder crust at 76 cm (from the ground), another harder crust at 39 cm. Just below the summit at 9450 feet, HS was only a little higher at 120 cm with hard crusts at 116 cm, 81 cm, and 44 cm. The top layer was faceted snow throughout the tour. One could clump it very slightly but it easily broke apart. There was evidence of riming on the NW facing side of the trees just below the summit. We enjoyed powder runs all the way down to the lake with better snow (less crusty) below 8800 feet.