Newton Creek

We found about 9-12 inches of low-density snow resting over the boot & ski supportable 3/9 crust. Wind slabs were generally small and soft below 6000 ft. While the new snow was welcome, travel remains scrappy and challenging on steeper, wind sheletred slopes and in thicker trees where the crust was more exposed. The best ski quality was found on lower-angle terrain today. 

Instability was mostly confined to wind-loaded pockets just beneath the ridgeline.

20-30 cm rests over the stout, 3/9 crust. Here's the breakdown:

West aspects: Often scoured down to this crust. However, there are pockets of reactive slabs ranging from 6-15" formed from down-canyon winds. These often lurked within terrain depressions or on steep, conex rolls. 

East aspects: Hold 20-30 cm over the crust. Soft wind slabs were thin and often would exist just beneath the ridge. They didn't extend much further down the slope. Much of the terrain below the ridge is lacking a slab, which limited concerns for instability.

We dug one pit on ENE @ 6000': Here we found about 35 cm of new snow over the 3/9 crust. In this location, we found the crust to be 10 cm thick. Below, the grains remain wet and somewhat weak. We got a CTM, SC 45 cm down on a layer of weaker melt forms and a ECTP 22, on the same layer. Below this layer of wet grains, the snowpack progressively becomes stronger.

Travel within the canopy remains rough! There are still tons of downed trees exposed.