Mt Hood Meadows

Unfortunately, very poor visibility and challenging travel limited terrain observations today.  I wasn't high enough into the wind zone or low enough into the mush to find much for avalanche problems, so my main hazard was the rough travel conditions. 

In the areas I traveled, I found 1-2 inches of wet new snow over the stout  AR crust.  This crust was firm, boot-supportable, and quite slick above 6000 ft. The light new accumulation barely improved riding conditions and having sharps would have been nessecarry for uphill travel.  Below this, rain runnels were prominent and the upper snowpack was more punchy and wet underfoot. 

The lower elevations took the biggest hit from this AR. Lower elevation, S aspects are now looking thin and have sections of bare ground. In the thicker canopy, surfaces are very rough and covered with debris from high winds. 

We'll need more than a few inches to improve travel.