Quick report
Started from McBride at 11am. 41N56 road has snow on it starting a few hundred feet from the trailhead, but coverage is inconsistent below about 5500' with a handful of bare spots. There is essentially no snow in the trees below about 5500'. Above that snow depth ramps up quickly, and there is consistent coverage above about 5800'. New snow started around this altitude, and increased to a depth of about 12" above 6200'. This snow is very dense and wet--ski penetration was only 1" or 2" going down to what felt like a density change a few inches below the snow surface. Boot penetration was most of the way down to the bottom of the new snow. I was surprised to find that the snow depth and quality (dense and wet) remained pretty much the same all the way up to my high point of 8200' above Horse Camp. I didn't notice much wind effect slightly above treeline, though the upper mountain clearly had more strongly wind affected surfaces. Winds were calm throughout. There were light snow showers (no accumulation) on and off through the afternoon punctuated by sunny skies. Solar aspects probably received at least an hour of sunshine in total, though I found little difference in snow surface between solar and polar aspects (both wet and dense). North aspect below Sand Flat had slightly lower density and deeper snow, but still quite wet. Boot penetration was thigh deep in some drifted spots. By the time I descended below about 6200' at 4pm the snow was transitioning from hot powder to mashed potatoes with many tree bombs. All in all, the high density snow above 6200' made for surprisingly enjoyable descending, with little enough ski penetration to keep things fast but just enough to make it feel closer to powder than corn. Some roller balls were releasing from below south facing cliffs on Casaval Ridge around 8500'.