Quick report
We toured up to the top of the Tincan Trees via the backdoor route. Travel was easy with a few inches of new snow on top of the suncrust from Monday. We found 4 to 6" of new snow at 2,300'. We dug 2 snowpits and found some weak layers that we will be keeping an eye on as we head into springtime conditions, but didn't produce very concerning results. We expect the new snow on the solar facing slopes will naturally slide as small wet loose avalanches tomorrow if the sun comes out. There wasn't much wind at our elevation, but there may be some lingering wind slabs above 2,500'. The new snow didn't quite cover the old tracks, but made for a few nice turns before we hit 1,600' where the sticky snow kept us from cruising to the parking lot.
Weather
It was 37° F on the vehicle thermometer when I arrived at 10AM and the same when I left at 4:30PM. It was snowing lightly all day until just before we reached the parking lot in the afternoon. Visibility was poor until around 2PM when clouds lifted a bit and we could see Common Bowl. There was a very light north breeze.
Snowpack
There was about 1" of new snow on top of a breakable melt-freeze crust at the parking lot. The amount of new snow increased with elevation and there was 4 to 6" of new at 2,300'. The south facing slopes had a thick warm/sun crust that was supportable in places where it stays frozen longer. In some places there were facets above the crust, but it wasn't consistent. We dug a snowpit on a south facing slope at 2,265' (HS 240cm) and found a 1.5" (4cm) sun crust underneath 4" of new snow. There was a 4cm layer of fist hard facets underneath this crust. The 2/10 crust was 1.5' (40 cm) down and had a 5" (10 cm) layer of facets above. All of the snow down to the 2/10 crust was moist. We did not do any formal tests because the sun crust was so stout we didn't think weak layers below could be affected while it's frozen. We dug a second snowpit on a north aspect at 2,200' (HS 230). The 6" of new snow in this location was moist and the rest of the snow below was dry. There were facets and some surface hoar under the new snow. The new snow slid off easily in a shovel tilt test, and the layer failed in the ECT, but did not propogate (ECTN1 PC). The 2/10 crust was 2' (60cm) down in this snowpit and we got an ECTP28 SC on facets (F+, 1-2mm) right on the crust. It will probably take a bigger load or warming to cause avalanches on this layer, but we are keeping an eye on it.