Markhor Tree Day

Went up with the goal of skiing the drainage to the east. Hit the alpine and all east facing slopes were extremely wind scoured. Came across Avalanche from group on Jan 1st, granite above has been completely wind scoured down to the rain glaze on the rock, won't bond well to anything on these slabs. Dug a pit on a NE aspect in the open at 1600m. - 30cm of fist new snow - 4F from 30-50, with a slightly distinct layer in there - 1F fauceted rain layer at 50 - Knife ice layer at 70, this is the failure layer from the Avalanche noted in Jan 1 min - column test sheared at 40cm layer on 7elbow, which was surprising as it wasn't a standout layer on the first analysis - all other layers were well bonded in this snowpack, and pulling on the column sheared it all the way at the base with layers only breaking when the column was handled. Skied the north trees on a similar line to the Jan 1 group, snow was ok at 1300-1600, very wet and heavy below that. Trees very skiable but hard alpine wind slab will be a pain until good new snow and consolidation.