Tamarack Peak

A brief snow shower had deposited 1-2cms of new snow in this area when I arrived at the trailhead.   Snow levels were around 8,000' as I drove up the road.  New snow had lots of graupel and was poorly bonded to the melt freeze surface underneath.   Under the new snow was a 5cms melt freeze crust of varying supportability with softer wet snow underneath.   While the new snow was staying cold on N aspects, intermittent periods of sun heated up E and NE aspects quickly, leading to sticky surfaces and breakdown of the crust beneath the new snow.   Kicking a few of the old partially frozen cornices onto steeper slopes off the ridgetop caused failures at the new snow interface.  There's currently not enough snow in this area to create a hazard, however this could become a problem as more snow accumulates this weekend.   Skiing was actually quite pleasant in areas where the old snow surface is relatively smooth, however, the new snow is already starting to hide a few rocks and other obstacles.  

Cracking was observed in some areas. The old surface crust has varing levels of refreeze and supportability.