Quick report
Toured out to Chinook Pass and back today, returning via the G-string couloir. We experienced extraordinarily mild weather, lots of sun, and just about every snow surface type imaginable. At lower elevations, shaded slopes in the forest were crusty in the morning, softening up in the afternoon. Southern aspects were extremely soft and slushy, with lots of ski penetration and roller balls even by 10:00 a.m. Northern aspects that didn't get sun had wind affected surfaces in places, and North facing slopes that were sheltered from the wind held dry powder which made for surprisingly good skiing. While we saw a few occasional pinwheels, it seemed to us as though most rocks and trees that were going to shed their snow already had. We saw very little in the way of sluffing or actively occurring avalanche activity today, despite the fact that on slopes that we're receiving full sun ski penetration was 8+ inches. We did, however, see several very large crowns from few day old avalanches, all on Northern aspects below large cornices in places that seemed likely wind loaded. The largest of which was on the slopes immediately Southwest of upper Deadwood Lake where we saw a crown that was probably 2 to 300 ft long and at least two or three feet deep (see photo)