White Pass backcountry: NW-E-S aspect, 5800-6800 ft.

The recent snow has settled well. While it might not be as blower as it once was, it's still right-side-up, soft, and smooth. Winds did reshape the snowpack along ridgelines and in exposed areas. It was pretty easy to spot the pillow-like wind slabs on lee slopes. 

No major signs of instability found.

The storms this week have done wonders for the snowpack and coverage. It's still thin down low. Painfully thin, especially in the forest. But above about 6000ft, coverage improves significantly. 

We consistently found about 16-20 inches (40-50cm) of snow over the Dec 18 crust. Sure, there were places where the wind scoured it away or piled it deeper. The new snow was generally right-side-up. Despite plenty of uptrack and small slope tests, we didn't find any issues in the new snow. The only layer that failed was about 3 inches (8cm) deep, and it only released with a shovel tilt tests. All that to say, it was great to see the storm snow settling well and not producing any issues. 

Two deeper snow profiles (NE, 6400ft, and ESE, 6000ft) found similar structures. These also related well to other recent observations at Crystal, Rainier, and White Pass. The 12/18 crust is a prominent snowpack marker. It was easy to find with our pole and probes all day. That rain even reached above ridge crest in the White Pass area. 

Wind Slabs: There was plenty of evidence of wind transport. Scoured slopes, rime, wind lips, small cornices, and drifts. You could see and feel the wind slabs on the lee slopes. However, no amount of poking and prodding could get the ones we saw to fail. That said, we still weren't willing to enter steeper, concave, or more confined slopes.