Becker - Talking Ridge

Six to eight inches of new snow had accumulated over the last 36 hours in the Echo Summit area. This snow rested on a firm, refrozen crust on all aspects. While the morning started cold, it quickly warmed up as we ascended the Becker/Talking Ridge. It did not take long for the rapid warming and March sun to change the new snow from cold, soft snow to wet, heavy snow. By 11 am, we could trigger pinwheels on sunny slopes. 30 minutes later, a ski cut triggered a small sluff of wet snow that entrained all of the new snow on a sunny test slope. 

We continued to the ridge and noticed signs of previous wind loading, including large cornices hanging over the N-NE-E aspects. We avoided these large overhangs of wind-blown snow, opting to test much smaller cornices and the small test slopes below them instead. Ski kicks caused the small cornices to fail but did not trigger cracking in the wind-loaded test slopes below. The snow along the ridge also showed signs of shifting wind directions. Soft snow still lingered on the ridges as well. 

Our descent took us down N-NE aspects. The new snow remained soft and cold on these slopes. Ski cuts on steep test slopes triggered sluffs in the new snow. One ski cut also produced minor, shallow (one to two inches deep) cracking.