Quick report
Photos
#1 Dense, ridge-level clouds lingered into the afternoon
#2 Lack of snowfall and clear weather mean a good opportunity for terrain familiarization in far-reaching areas.
#3 Softer, weak surfaces could be found in protected mid-elevation areas
#4 Perhaps a metaphor for the season: In a meadow full of fresh new tracks, snowmobiles pause. Amid the chaos, a small sprout somehow stands strong but quiet, untouched with its hoar frost...holding out hope, perhaps, for what might come. Photo: J. Kelly
Snowpack
Every observation from the Salt Lake and Provo zones over the past two weeks about variable surfaces is relevant here: a grab bag—luckily, variety is, in fact, the spice of life.
Notable was the depth of faceting in some protected, mid-elevation areas. While the riding was mostly supportable above the ground to machines, some locations were faceted to the extent of dropping a ski much farther than anticipated somewhat inconsistently. On several occasions, we hopped off sleds and found the snow supportable to boots just 4-8 inches down, only to penetrate almost to the ground (2.5+ feet) without warning.
It goes without saying that while this makes for recycled, softer surfaces now, this will pose quite a large problem once we add a decent load.