Weather
- Air Temp
- 56
- Cloud Cover
- broken
- Wind Loading
- none
- Rain Elevation
- 0
- Recent Snowfall
- 0
- Snow Avail For Transport
- none
High thin clouds covered most of the sky although there were blue patches over Lake Tahoe. Winds were mostly calm with brief periods of light wind for the majority of my tour. Around 2:30 winds increased and became more consistent with Lenticular clouds forming. The temps, cloud cover, and winds made for comfortable hiking weather.
Snowpack
I toured up to 9900 feet on Round Top toward the bottom of the main couloirs on NW, N, and NE aspects. The snow was supportable on skis and by foot, with about an inch of surface melt below 9800 feet. This made for enjoyable skiing. Above 9800 feet the snow was much firmer, drier, and loud while riding. While the texture has softened in this zone there is still evidence of runnels. It is possible to seek out smooth sections of riding for at least 3/4 of the run. In the trees, the snow was littered with pine needles and a bit more variable, with old tree bombs or possibly old tracks that had hardened and are now raised. The snow never became sticky, even though I exited around 3 pm. Wind and intermittent sun kept the snowpack from becoming too melted.
It is possible to tour in this area without taking off skis, but it requires weaving around trees and open creeks. At 8600 feet, one of the more prominent creeks is mostly open, with far fewer snow bridges than two weeks ago. At 9900 feet on a north aspect, I measured 140 cm of snow. There was a minior crust about 10 cm below the surface, with pockets of warm snow but mostly frozen snow in the top foot and a half of the snowpack.