Red Lake Peak

We climbed Red Lake Peak via the main SE gully today. Snow surfaces were beginning to soften by 9:00am. Ski penetration was a about 1 cm and boot penetration was about 2 cm on SE aspects around 10am. Snow surface conditions range from relatively smooth to sun cupped and runneled in different areas. Wind swept aspects are bare as is typical in this spot, but these bare dirt areas are signficantly larger than is typical for mid March.  Looking around from the top, it was interesting to note that the Upper Truckee is melting out in Meiss Meadow. Higher elevation north aspects on Carson Pass near Roundtop appear to have fairly good coverage. Descending SE aspects aroudn 11am we found soft snow that produced small roller balls on the steepest slopes in response to skier turns. We had to take our skis off a couple of times to travel over rocks or dirt, but there was still sufficient snow for travel in this zone.