Cain-ish

Excellent day skiing some N and NW facing treeline terrain in the Cain area. The clear, cool nights had grown some 1-2cm surface hoar that shushed beautifully on the skin towards our objective. We dug a pit to learn more about what the recent storm snow was sitting on before we committed to skiing 30-35° slopes in alpine-like treeline terrain (see snowpack details below). Ultimately the weak layer above the crusts was stubborn to trigger with a (very) resistant planar fracture character, but needs to be respected nonetheless. Unsupported test rolls sheared just above the crust, but sheared blocks were pretty sluggish to actually slide. More supported steep test slopes felt stable and exhibited no cracking. Thin, cracky windslab was found on multiple aspects near ridgecrest, with signs of a fair amount of re-distribution since the end of last weekend. We avoided wind affected snow on our ski lines. Skiing was spectacular. Sky was clear, wind was non-existent and by afternoon the sun did start to moisten solar aspects. Test profile details: 1375m, NNW aspect, 30° HS 245cm (Densities from top down) 0-20 F 20-43 4F 43-53 1F 53-57 4F** - granular, sugary snow Triple crust complex 57-67 A couple compression tests, an ECT and a PST 1) CTH26 down 57 RP 2) CTM18 down 53 RP, CTH23 down 57 RP ECTN20 (no propagation) PST in layer of grains above crust- propagation at 50%, no slide.