Quick report
Great to have a return to winter! Despite low snow totals, was finding excellent ski and travel conditions as the dense new snow provided a spongy base above the frozen old snow surface. Still excellent coverage > 9000', and many slopes are smooth underneath providing smooth and consistent fall-line skiing.
Although there was minimal wind drifting, was finding West and Northwest aspects had more scouring, and aspects that had an East component had more consistent snow cover.
Hazard was Low this morning as the sun had not warmed the surface, and I was unable to find any widespread wind loading.
If/When the sun comes out, there are likely to be some shallow wet slides on all aspects.
Cottonwood Canyon forecast at 1400 on Wednesday 4/23 was showing a similar storm for the weekend, but with more wind and higher precip. Given how the 10 cms improved ski conditions this morning, am thinking the weekend may provide anothe round of nice, late-April powder skiing.
Snowpack
About 10 cms (4") new storm snow that bonded well to the old snow surface. New snow was dense and mostly graupel and it rode great even on steeper aspects. I did find a few wind pockets along Twin Lakes Pass ridgeline, but these were very shallow and would only crack just around your skis, if at all. Old snow surface is a stout, 5-10 cm frozen crust that is well supportable with damp grains underneath the crust.