April showers bring alpine powders

A quick rip up Beadnell today to see where the freezing level was and to check on how the new snow is bonding to the underlying surface. We started in the pouring rain, parking near the 3km mark on the Eden main. The creeks are getting wider all the time, and the brown spots between snow patches are growing too. The rain switched to mixed precipitation around 1300 m, and full blown snow just a bit higher. The chute is in excellent condition, and the upper trail is well packed. At the upper cabin the wind was blowing and the snow was dumping down. Around 10 cm had accumulated by 1 PM. This snow seemed to be bonding well to the wet/crusty surface below. Heading up to the alpine the visibility was low and the wind was nearly strong enough to take you off your feet. By the end of the storm there might be some nice sledding up top, if the approach can hold up against all this rain.