Yellowstone National Park

Quick report

Skied Stateline Meadows on a sunny but cold day. The established skin tract was sometimes aggressive, crossing >35* slopes, but without any contraindications to the "low" rating for avalanche forecast. There was no cracking, whumphing, collapsing, or sloughing on steeper slopes, rollovers, switchbacks, or off the beaten path. Our overall impression was the instability was low. Soft (4F to 1F) sun crust layer (approximately 1--3cm of top of snow pack) has developed in non-shaded areas. Crust at this time does not propagate cracking. The snow surface is not uniform and appears to be undergoing melt-thaw pitting, resulting in an uneven surface. Although I suspected some diurnal recrystallization may be occuring, I found no obvious surface hoar development to the naked eye, certainly no advanced crystal chains or multi-centimeter crystals. Identifying surface hoar was complicated by the uneven surface texture. I did not examine with a loupe for smaller structures. A possible positive indication of recrystallization might be that simple, individual dentrite structures were easily identifiable on the surface despite direct solar radiation and little to no recent snow. Another positive indication was that where snow had not received recent skier compaction, the snow was unconsolidated, possibly "recycled powder." The Meadows appear to be receiving decent skier compaction.