Quick report
Another beautiful day in the mountains. Temperatures were a touch warmer than the day before, but high clouds and low sun angles (still early January) prevented any widespread wet problems from developing. Snow on valley floor stayed cold and dry all day; there are 6-7" of faceted snow sitting on the rain crust below. At 11 AM, steep skin track walls facing south were still icy and gradually softening. By days end, E and W were still completely dry, and low angle SE and SW were dry as well. Steeper slopes were doing more melting. No cracking or collapsing
Snowpack
Fresh coat of 3-5mm surface hoar on all aspects and up to the top of observed elevation. Sun cooked this off on solars.
Avalanche
I observed a bit of small wet loose action at the low end of middle elevations that had happened in the past two days (was present before things warmed up today). I also observed several soft and hard slabs that failed in winded terrain. Based on depth, they failed near the 1/1 interface, but would have to go visit crowns to confirm this.