Quick report
~10cm of fresh snow greeted us in Alpental Valley with needles and huge stellars still falling until 9am. By the time we got to Snow Lake divide at 4500’, a noticeable crust appeared on almost all aspects, and was the main source of avalanche activity observed through the day. While the new snow above this crust is generally shallow, there were areas near ridge line on North facing slopes (most notably Melakwa Pass) where significantly heavier and deeper snow sat on this layer. Our traversing descent to Chair Peak Lake triggered a small wet slide that entrained a surprising amount of snow, and hand pits at Melakwa repeatedly failed down 30cm on this layer in solid blocks with light pressure (see photo) As the day progressed and new snow started coming in, this upper layer became much heavier and small wet loose slides were easily triggered on anything steep or unsupported. This problem was manageable but could cause trouble in the presence of terrain hazards.
Avalanche
Abundant natural loose/wet slides on the recent crust layer visible throughout the Alpental + Snow Lake valleys, though no signs that any of these stepped down below the crust. The snow became much heavier as the day progressed and small wet loose slides were easily triggered.