Quick report
- Cracking
- isolated
A quick tour to check the snow and break in a new pair of boots. Snowed moderate to hard while out. Just an inch or 2 new below ~5600-5700' in the morning. By the time I got to 6,800' and the ridge line it was blowing and snowing hard. Wind drifts and mid-slope cornices in weird spots the last 300' or so to ridge. Cracking only under skis as the snow depth increased as I toured higher. The latest rain crust (12/25) was found up to about 6,500'. It is quite thin (2mm) and breakable. Under it you'll find a couple inches of soft snow before the thicker crust. The lower crust is supportive but looked to be faceting rapidly. My guess is 4-5" new while I was out, but it is much deeper or shallower depending on the wind in any particular location. My concerns would be the heavy wind loading (winds were SW and W mainly) and those rain crusts not handling the new snow and a skier's weight. Machines should be very cautious in open, higher terrain as they definitely will penetrate the major upper ice layers. The snow skied fantastic down to the heavy brush and timber elevation. (WSW aspect)