Quick report
Near the top of Paulina Peak I did not find any cracking, wind slabs or even much wind loading. However, from the bottom of the terrain (with binoculars) I could see one small crown with debris under it on a steep north facing slope.
Weather
- Cloud Cover
- obscured
- Wind Loading
- none
- Recent Snowfall
- 5-7
- Snow Avail For Transport
- small smounts
In the morning the summit was in a cloud with low visability. By afternoon the cloud coverage lifted and it was partly cloudy. Winds were light with moderate gusts from the west. Temperatures ranged from 21F to a high of 29F.
Snowpack
Today I found 2-3" of unconsolidated snow sitting on a supportable crust layer throughout the terrain. The crust layer is thicker on sunny slopes and much thinner on shady slopes. At 7760ft on a northeast aspect I found some facets sandwiched between two ice crusts that is buried down 40" (103cm). The facets were reactive in a deep tap test (DTH-sudden collapse). However I did not get any other results on this layer in any other tests. I also dug at 7,000ft on a north aspect and I could not find this facet layer. I suspect this layer not everywhere.
Besides this facet layer I found the snowpack to be right side up. I was not able to find the buried surface hoar or graupel that Gabe found last week.