Sidehills, Sun Crusts, and South York

Today in South York it was sunny and warm, but a moderate westerly wind kept the snow surface cool. The riding was crusty and firm. At 2000 m, the crust was still firm, and the sleds stayed on the surface. Even on aggressive side hills, it was difficult to break the crust and dig the track into the snow. We observed no signs of instability and no recent avalanches. The wind was blowing the little snow available in the high Alpine around, depositing it in the upper NE start zones. The big story today was the surface crust. There is 5-10 cm of newly formed crust on the surface due to the warm weather this week. This is capping 35-60 cm of cohesive, well-bonded snow. Below this slab of snow, on southerly aspects, there is another crust. On northerly aspects, this crust doesn't exist or is very thin. The weak layer lies just below this crust, composed of large, sugary snow grains. The mid- and lower-snowpack is well settled and strong.