Quick report
- Cracking
- isolated
Drove machine up to 5200'. I had to cut a few trees off the road on the way up from the wet snow load and wind. I actually had to cut 4 more on my way down that fell while skiing. (Note: bring a saw if heading high!) Snow/rain mix at lake level. At 5200' the snow was a bit on the heavy side, but got better as I climbed to 6800'. Lots of warning signs on the ski up...pin wheels off of tree bombs causing mini sloughs, cracking under skis... It was breezy and light snow much of the early day. Visibility was poor. I could get some small test slopes to pop, but not drop. There was about 4" of fresh snow at 5200' and 12"-13" the top few hundred feet. Smooth, soft drifts up high. Many hand shears along the way up showed the new snow on the upper rain crust was bonding pretty well with moderate pulls. The rain crust was about 1/2" thick at about 6400', and supportive to skis, although faceting starting underneath. Up higher, like in other reports, the crust was super thin. I chose to stay in the trees on West aspects for visibility, with steeper pitches sloughing a bit, but isolated to my tracks. I would be cautious where cross-loading occurs and in large open bowls, especially on snowmobiles or snowbikes as the rain crust probably won't support the weight.