Elephant's Back

Skinning out to Elephant's Back I was a bit surprised both by the decent covereage and the soft snow still present in this near tree line area. Although there are many old firm tracks present, the cold temps are faceting anything that's not tracked and even some of the old tracks are breaking down. As you leave the relative protection of the trees on the shoulder of Elephant's Back the snow is firmer and shows significant erosion  from the winds. There are large areas of exposed rock and dirt due to previous winds. Today the winds were light but cold on the ridge, but it was easy to escape them just off the ridge. Dropping down towards Red Lake soft snow remains on shady slopes that aren't tracked out and coverage is ample to the lake.