Brief tour up and around the Maus tarns area. We still need more snow to cover obstacles. Where we checked (2170m) it was about the same 50cm we saw down lower (2000). Calm day with low cloud hanging around that 2100m level. The 20-25cm of soft snow on top of the very firm crust is getting a little sugary. The crust gets a little thinner the higher you go but remains very supportive. Skis scrape it on the steeper aspects. We observed only minor wind effect in open areas but with poor vis we stayed near trees.