Blewett Pass - Tronsen Meadows

On the final day of this sunny, warm stretch, I was curious to go out and investigate how the snowpack had adjusted and changed since I was last at Blewett. I found a significantly patchier snowpack, especially below 5000', and very sticky skiing, but fewer signs of avalanche activity than I was expecting.  I spotted one old, small slab in rocky E terrain which by its faint, sun-baked crown was either from the last storm cycle or early in this period of warm up. I also didn't see any active roller balling during my tour, only what looked to be rather old roller balls, although I exited the field around 1PM, prior to peak heat of the day.  I was also surprised to not see any signs of cornices failure at ridgeline, even though the backs of them were baking in the sunshine on the S side of the ridge.

Other than low in the valley (slightly inverted temperatures), snow surfaces did not get a solid re-freeze overnight. In the morning, the snow surface was ski (but not boot) supportable on all but the most shaded aspects, which had a slightly more breakable crust. By afternoon, the snow surface was much softer, and my skis sunk 5-6in with each turn. 

I dug a pit at 5200' on a N facing aspect. Above the Early February Crust (EFC) I found moist rounds between crusts. The facets above the EFC are rounding, but still weaker than surrounding snow. While I didn't see any water actively pooling on any of the crusts, about 13in (35cm)  I found a stout ice layer with tiny bit of slushy snow on top of it, which I suspect might have been from water traveling through the snowpack during the hottest parts of the past few days. 

I had some surprising snowpack test results well below the EFC - a column test and extended column test both had results on a layer of 1-2mm rounding facets (fist hardness) about 30in (78cm) down from the surface of the snow (CT8 SC, ECTP22). I was especially surprised how planar the layer the ECT block slid on was, despite being deep in a complex matrix of old crusts at the base of the snowpack. I didn't get any snowpack test results on layers above the EFC, although I noted that snow tended to shear at the crusts while I was shoveling around them in the process of digging the pit.