Quick report
I went out to the Emigrant Lake area intending to descend Sally Alley. But as soon as I descended from the top of Chair 4, I realized the snow on north aspects was very hard. I waited to skin up to Melissa Coray, but when I got to the base of the final pitch up, I realized that it was still too hard at about 11:30 am. I used ski crampons to get to the peak of Melissa Coray; they were mostly effective but the sun cups combined with the hard snow created pockets where the ski crampons did not grab. I then had a bumpy ski down to the entrance of Sally Alley which has a steep NW entry. It was hard and bumpy as well, and I decided against it. As I traveled up the ridge to Peak 9795, there were no soft surfaces except in the east aspect. I traveled north under the Peak to the north side of the Peak (by descending, booting, and skinning) and tested entrances to the various couloirs along the ridge. They were all hard and bumpy looking. I then went along the ridge to the NW face of Fourth of July hoping for some softer snow, but that slope also remained hard, even as late as 2pm. I descended a low angle SW slope, with enjoyable skiing, to Emigrant Lake. I then booted the east slope of Emigrant Lake after I noticed the sound of running water going into the Lake. I returned to Kirkwood on the west bank of the creek which was open and flowing. Observed glide cracks on N and NW steep slopes.
Weather
- Air Temp
- 50s
- Cloud Cover
- scattered
- Snow Avail For Transport
- none
Cooler than the previous days but still warm in the sun.
Snowpack
Colder temperatures overnight and today resulted in hard snow surfaces that did not soften on polar aspects above 9500 ft, even as late as 2pm. E/SE/S/SW/W aspects did soften by midday above 9500 ft with a ski pen of 2 cm and a boot pen of 5 cm. At 9375 ft, on a N aspect, HS was 153 cm.