Crater Lake

The snowpack is melting out quickly due to warm ambient air temperatures and the strong March sun. The approach along Crater Lake Road was mixed, requiring both walking and skinning below 8000 ft. Conditions were wet and sloppy at lower elevations, with snow becoming increasingly limited to north-facing aspects. Crater Lake is melted out around the edges, and south and southwest aspects are largely snow free. Above 8000ft SE and E aspects look thin and sloppy. Snow on east aspects was variable, mushy, and punchy, and I chose not to ride the east face due to weak, unsupportable surface snow. North aspects remained more supportable, with about 2 inches of surface melt over a 30 cm 1F hard layer. Rain cups were melting and softening in texture on the north aspect I rode and provided enjoyable riding conditions.  Ongoing warming is causing the snowpack to creep, even on north aspects, and cliff bands near ridgelines are beginning to melt out and form glide cracks.

I observed 5 wet loose avalanches with two being smaller and older. Three natural D1 wet loose avalanches on southeast and east aspects around 8800 ft, likely occurring within the past week. These were primarily below cliff bands in steep terrain. The more recent ones exposed the bare ground. 

I dug into the snow on a north aspect at 8500 feet to take a look at the layers see if there was water pooling on the crusts. There was 2 cm of melt on a 1cm Pencil hard crust with 1F hard snow down to a crust at 34 cm. There was another crust at 41 cm. These crusts had soft wet snow on top and bottom of them. I did not see any water pooling on the crusts.  The total snow height was 130cm.