MCS - The Knob

Quick report

Out from 1130-1630. Cloud covered increased and brought some brief flurries, then the skies opened up slightly again. Traveled from 6110' to 7570' starting on the snowmobile road until heading off the road to get to the top of The Knob area. Skied off the other side 7520-6750' on a NE-facing slope, came up, then down to the snowmobile road for the out. As expected, snow surfaces are variable based on elevation and aspect (where snow still exists). Be cautious of these changes when traveling with speed so something doesn't grab you. The top 1/3 of our skiing was fun facet turns, the middle 1/3 was slightly heavier but creamy fun, and the bottom 1/3 was heavier but still turn-able while very noticeably feeling the crusts of previous skiers. Travel along the road showed the amount of warming throughout the day -- with bare spots becoming larger and hitting distinct changes in snow stickiness with decreasing elevation on the way out. If you are human powered, there are several mandatory skis off spots, and some other areas of caution if you like your bases in good shape. *** Quick pit for observations at 7560', ENE-aspect, 159 cm snow height. Melting surface hoar, F 159-143 cm: Most recent storm snow, 4F 143-139 cm: 1F+ 139-132 cm: Rounding facets, 1F- A proper crust wasn't found until appx. 70 cm down, then a layer cake of our early season crusts below that. CT12 SP 20cm down - interface of the harder layer and the rounding facets, ECT and PST not performed (similar setup to the PAC observation from No Business - video on their Instagram and obs here: https://payetteavalanche.org/observations/#/view/observations/d3408114-6457-48e2-8186-083de08dbae2) Debriefed these observations in the parking lot with another skier who did some snowpack assessments on Pilot Peak (higher elevation) -- similar observations but with the results at 30 cm down along the same interface