Quick report
We predominantly traveled on north facing aspects that had surprisingly pleasant soft, right side up snow with no detectable crusts while riding. It was cold in the shade. Although we didn't actually ride on south-facing slopes, any south-facing cut banks had a thinner new layer with crusts immediately beneath and wouldn't have been good riding. Stability was very good and we weren't concerned about avalanches where we traveled.
Weather
- Cloud Cover
- clear
- Wind Loading
- none
- Snow Avail For Transport
- small smounts
Clear, calm and cold. Shady vs sunny areas varied greatly, with it feeling warm in the sun and very chilly in the shade.
Snowpack
There was 2-4 inches of non wind-affected snow that fell on Thursday everywhere I travelled. Surface hoar was present on the surface. The snowpack was right side up with a few soft crust layers in the top couple feet, visible in the pit. None were detectable while snowmobiling. The only layer I got results on was the 1/10 crust just under a foot down, with moderate resistant planar compression test failures but no propagation in the Extended Column Test. I found the same results everywhere I traveled today, with 2 pits I dug and many hand pits. Boot penetration was about 1ft, and sleds were sinking about 6 inches into the snow.