Quick report
Visibility was very poor from the tree line to the rim. I didn't see any recent avalanches, but the steep south aspect from the rim that avalanched last Tuesday was not visible. Footprints from Saturday made it clear that storms in the last 2 days dropped about 3" at the tree line and 4-6 inches on the upper Mtn. Today there was light rain from Marble Mtn changing to mixed precip by 3600' and snow above 4500'. Total snowfall today was less than an inch before 4 pm. There were two brief10 minute periods with sunshine between 6000 and 7000', but otherwise it was foggy above the tree line all day. There was a 0.5" hard layer underneath the weekend snow from 5500-7000. Above that the snow was wind scoured and quite firm except in drifts. Gusty strong winds began at 6500; and reached 25-40 mph by the rim at 8250 with a rim temp of 20 F. Above 7200' there was a lot of blowing snow and the snow on the east aspect of Monitor Ridge was had a thin hard layer of rime and ice over soft snow. This layer was very weakly bonded to the softer snow below. Rime continued to develop during the day. Monitor Ridge from 7650 to the rim at 8250 was ice and rime. The fog was too thick for a glimpse of the avalanche prone south aspect of the rim east of Monitor Ridge but with the thin icy surface layer and the wind transporting a lot of snow at that altitude, I avoided that part of the route. No signs of avalanches or instability.