Mount Baldy

The snowpack is quieting down after the widespread natural cycle in the middle of the week.  Although we did not experience any collapsing, I am hesitant to ride on steep slopes highlighted by the Persistent Slab rose without obvious signs of recent avalanches.  The snowpack structure remains poor-looking on the northeast, east, and southeast slopes we crossed today.  South and southwest appear less problematic.

Plenty of old avalanches but no cracking or collapsing today while moving through untraveled terrain (since Thanksgiving storm)

We toured near and above treeline on northeast, east, southeast, and south aspects without any instability.  Thanksgiving slab was generally 70 to 100cm thick, typically up to 1 finger hard.  One profile site above treeline produced an ECTP 24 on basal facets, while other sites required past the standard 30 loading steps.  It was a quiet day for us underfoot, but the snowpack structure looks very poor on NE,E, and SE slopes at upper elevations.  I wouldn't want to test my luck on bigger slopes or those with any consequences.

We descended a steeper south-facing slope around 12,200 feet.  Winds removed some of the Thanksgiving slab, leaving about 2 feet of storm snow that rested above a 5cm thick melt/freeze crust.  I did not perform a standardized test on this slope, but hand sheers revealed a weakness right at the base of the Thanksgiving slab; I am uncertain if this was radiation recrystallization from before the Thanksgiving storm or faceting after.  It did not appear all that sensitive yet noteworthy.  Snow surfaces remain dry on sunny slopes above 11,800 feet.