Quick report
- Cracking
- isolated
In two small low angle (10-15 degrees) sections between 6000 and 6500', cracks in a soft 1-2" crust over new snow sometimes propagated a foot or two ahead of my boot. This didn't happen at altitudes above or below or on steeper slopes. There were big swarms of roller balls in the 6,000s that must be from the last day or two. No other signs of instability today, but I stayed on the ridges and avoided new wind transported snow in the cirques. The Rim cornice is spectacular. Below 5000', there was about 1/2" of new snow over the early Feb crust. Above 5,000 the new snow got gradually deeper to 12-18" on the rim at 8250'. Low clouds and fog prevented any melting below the tree line. From the tree line to 6400', there was enough sunshine to melt it to a depth of several inches by late afternoon. Above 6500' a fragile crust over new snow stayed cold (14 F on the rim today with foggy periods). There was enough snow moving in gusty squalls during the day to erase footprints above 6800' in 30 minutes or so. When I left at 4:30 PM, there was fairly heavy rain/snow mix falling at Marble Mtn (2600')