Quick report
- Cracking
- isolated
Touring from the 5300' level to the ridge line at 6700' the new snow went from about 4" to 6-8", depending on aspect. The new snow sat on a 1- 1 1/2" rain crust. Down low you could punch your pole through it, with some effort. Above around 6,000' it was pretty bomber. Sugary facets lie underneath the crust. No Whoompfing along the way. The cornices are now officially backwards from the NE winds. The ridge line ad East faces were really the only places the wind affected the new snow. I skied sheltered trees on the W NW aspects and found good (fast!) snow down to about 5800' or so. Below that it, was skiable but a bit more grabby. Stability was far better than I anticipated due to the colder temperatures firming the rain crust. Sledders and snow bikes will want to watch riding under rock bands with weaker, shallower snow. If I was going to be high marking, I would try a few test slopes with low consequence first to see how supportive the rain crust is. My guess is the crust will not support a sled highmarking. Will the snow step down to other weak layers? That is the question one would want to answer before getting on slopes of consequence.
Avalanche
Looks like the "warm-storm" caused all of the steep slopes to slide. Add the E NE winds that the recent snow came in with, and there are some interesting wind waves on the ridges. The old wind swept crown lines looked to be about a foot or so deep.