Sherwin ridge - Mammoth Area

I went for a walk in the sherwins today to take stock after our most recent storm system.

• Overall, it was a relatively uneventful day, with my observations supporting a stabilizing trend.
• Coverage took a hit during last week's warm-up, and this last storm didn't lead to much gain at lower elevations. 
• I measured up to 50 cm of new snow in favored areas above 9000' 
• Increasing winds out of the north led to some blowing snow along the ridge in the afternoon, stripping traditional start zones.
• Increasing cloud cover limited solar impacts today. However, warming occurred quickly during brief windows of direct sun. Some small fans of roller balls were observed on more solar aspects this afternoon.  I also noted thin melt-freeze crusts had formed below 8500' by the time I exited the area.

Pretty benign on this front. I poked around on some wind-loaded features and observed isolated cracking in a few areas with more recent deposits. In these areas, I noted slabs to be about 4f in hardness and 10 - 30 cm thick. I would describe the wind slab potential in this area near treeline as stubborn. I noted 1 Dry Loose avalanche in the fingers that appeared to have been skier triggered on 4/1 or early on 4/2.