Quick report
T'was a day of rambling around the pass looking for safe exploration and good turns. The primary story was the impact of the sustained inversion at the Pass. At and below the cloud-tops (~4-4.4k), the snow stayed cold and in the trees. Above, expect to find both solar and warming crusts. Alarming tree bombs began falling with sun exposure and moderate easterly-flow winds. Skiing down from 5k to the car at around 2pm, we had the rare experience of skiable (but notable) crust up high and dry boot-top skiing down low. When skiing Sunday, look for places where the trees are still holding all of their snow; you might still find cold snow. Instability-wise, we triggered nothing. Loose slides and rollerballs were beginning to run from the ridgetops in the afternoon (see photos). At middle-elevations, the snow surface featured a thin and faceting crust on both shaded and open slopes. Look for small surface-hoar atop. Where trees have shed their snow at middle and upper elevations, expect to find a supportable and icy tree-drip crust. Weather: Broken sun much of the day at upper elevations, with an easterly-flow inversion cloud all day.
Avalanche
See photo of Kendall's west face -- shallow but broad slab in the shadows.