Marmot Mid-Rib

Americans call it "ping pong ball", Kiwis call it "cotton wool", but whatever you want to call it, Hatcher Pass stayed in the clouds for most of the day with only brief breaks of sun and visibility. We departed the IM lot during one of those encouraging spells and made a dash for the mid-rib of Marmot in hopes we might catch some good light for the descent but alas, it was not meant to be. We encountered about 5-7'' of new snow sitting on a slick crust. The new snow appeared to be well bonded to the old snow surface and despite some slippery skinning we initiated no sluffs and didn't see snow moving much on the old sun crust. When the visibility improves the skiing should be great. With the accumulation of new snow we're pushing into territory where dry or wet sluffs might be less manageable and better avoided. The light density snow will be very sensitive to warming so if or when the sun comes out be ready for some more extensive wet loose activity. 

Ground truthed about 5-7'' of snow on top of a slick crust on our way up mid-rib. New snow was bonding well to the old sun crust and although we encountered some slippery skinning, the snow wasn't easily sluffing or running on the old crust.