Quick report
Route: Over the river and through the woods to the southwestern ridge of Wolverine, then up to 3000' above the road-facing bowl. Signs of instability: None today. Old, shallow D1-2 slab avalanches were present on the northerly aspects of Sharks Fin and Eddies, often breaking mid-slope as shown in the pictures. These natural slab avalanches looked similar to those reported across the pass last weekend. Weather: Temps in the teens up high, 20s-low 30s below treeline. Clear skies in the AM, with a few clouds approaching from Prince William Sound by the end of the day. Above 2000', light SE winds gusting moderate, but the soft snow surface wasn't getting transported by gusts. Below 2000', occasional light SE winds. Snow Surface: Soft, faceting snow on all surfaces travelled - including a few places commonly exposed to winds - with ski penetration of 2-5". This snow was generally capped by 4-6mm surface hoar on Wolverine itself (larger in the flats down low), with the only exception being southerly aspects where moist snow and a breakable crust was present... the result of a strong sun. Snowpack: Generally more of the same as observed across the pass in recent days, with ski pole probing revealing 1-2 distinct layers of facets in the top 1-2' of the snowpack, sitting on top of the stout early February crust. Comparing the structure to what I saw on recent days on Eddies and Sunburst, this area clearly received more winds in February through mid-March, as in some areas just 4-6" of well developed facets can be found directly on the February crust. Additionally, some firmer (1 finger+) layers of snow were frequently found in the top 2 feet of the snowpack - potentially wind packed layers of rounds - with an example of this structure from a pit at 2000' on a N aspect in the photos. I chose the pit location on the way up thinking this structure would become rarer in more wind exposed locations, but ski pole probing found it in pockets to our high point of 3000' including on the small, steeper terrain feature at the top of the bowl. Stability test results were unremarkable, and well in line with what has been observed on the pass this week.