Lookout Pass

Height of snow ranged 18 to 20 inches at mid and upper elevations. Less than a foot of snow survived recent rains below 5,000 feet. We found 3 to 4 inches of new snow below 5,000 feet and around 6 inches at 6,000 feet. Drifted areas along ridges produced isolated cracks above a pencil hard rain crust that formed over the last couple of days. The rain crust was on average an inch thick. We dug on a west and northeast-facing slope and did not find much variation in snow depths. The most notable difference was the presence of moist faceted grains below the rain crust in our northeast snowpit. These grains were 4F hardness and failed with moderate force in Compression Tests. We did not find the same interface in our west pit, but did find a 4F hardness layer of moist faceted grains at the ground, and also failed with moderate force in Compression Tests. While not a concern today, these weaker facets should be evaluate as the overlying slab gets deeper above the crust - we easily broke through the crust with boot penetration suggesting that some potential exists for slides on top of the crust to break deeper. Upper elevations with deeper snow cover and more continuous snow covered slopes are the more likely places to trigger a larger avalanche. Mid and lower elevations where we traveled today still remain shallow and avalanche activity seems small and isolated, but likely to grow in size with additional snowfall and once more natural obstacles get buried.