Quick report
Observations from a tour where we skied gash proper North slide path, then crossed to Glenn. We saw multiple natural crowns, all in isolated steep terrain features above and below cliffs. All limited to storm slab from last Thursday’s storm. Also observed stuffing debris in steep shaded gullies and some wet loose debris on solar. No cracking or collapsing all day, and we crossed most all aspects and elevations. We dug a pit at 8200 feet on an E aspect near gash proper. 210 cm of snow. We only dig 90 cm down to the early Feb ice crust. ECT20N at 40 cm (snow since Thursday) and no results on the stout crust at 70 cm. I kind of think this is an unusually stable spot with a deep snow pack and a lower likelihood of surface hoar growth. We weren’t able to deduce wind patterns last week. It was hard to tell if East winds were present as they were in the Rattlesnake. Wind picked up during the day, but it appeared significant transport was limited. We felt pretty good stepping out a bit into simple steeper terrain but lacked the confidence to step into complicated or consequential terrain. The gash road is no longer easily drivable. Folks were doing it, but full sized vehicle is probably a good idea.