Dana

My goals today were to check out steep, alpine, northerly terrain in the Tioga area since the road is open to the entry station. I left the car at 10 am and found supportable travel on our melt freeze surface from 10000' to 12500'. At this point, I descended a northeast aspect with some favorable softening at the surface. Around noon, I skied a more north aspect that lacked any soft snow and had firm conditions. This afternoon, I descended to Ellery Lake on a west and north aspect and found just a few pockets of favorable softening in the afternoon light. Overall, today's travels were entirely about variety. 

My big takeaway from traveling on northerly aspects most of the day is that surface conditions have devolved into a dog's breakfast (a mix of everything). Winds over the last few days have been variable in both direction and speed, and have generally removed our soft, north-facing cold snow in the alpine. I found crampons useful for travel on firm surfaces, and encountered scoured old frozen snow, breakable windboard, smooth wind buff, softening windboard, isolated pockets of deep wet snow, and isolated pockets of cold, soft snow. The method to the madness is hard to track, and it was prudent to be prepared for any and all surfaces. While the winds may have brought out the spice of life in steep, north-facing terrain, they also helped restore fast, firm surfaces that are great for efficient travel.

While I found no signs of instability or recent avalanches, I did find hazards such as: slide-for-life surfaces, large cornices, thin coverage at all elevations, rockfalls, falling snow and ice, and many other mountain users to consider during ascents and descents. 

I found no signs of instability. I found very isolated patches of transitional/wet snow on solar aspects in the alpine.