Quick report
Saturday's storm left less than1" of new snow between 3000 and 4500, then 2-3 inches between 4500 and 6000' Between 6,000 and 8250 was rime ice and areas of wind transported snow over hard icy old snow. The deepest wind slabs were 8-10" thick. The labs had fragile 1" crust that seemed well adhered to the snow below. Ridges above 7500 feet were rime covered. The snow seemed quite stable. Two skiers targeted the wind slabs and managed a ride from the rim down to about 5700' but they had to cross many extensive icy patches and shoot between rocks, They did not trigger any avalanches in those slabs. No avalanches were seen today, but the rim cornice is unusually dangerous. It has new fragile soft snow extending as much as 8-10' over air. Today a climber fell chest deep through a fragile crust into a deep hole about 12 feet back from the cornice margin. This hole is a wide crack that forms along the inner margin of the rim as the massive block of cornice ice and snow slumps into the crater. This crack appears every year, but in the spring, typically late May or June. It's appearance on December 31 is a sign of very unusual snow conditions. Clear and sunny today with some melting below 6000'. Rim temps in the low 20s. Winds 5 mph at 6000', 5-15 mph on the rim.