North side

We found wet snow extending to 6000 ft on this side of the mountain. At upper elevations, strong winds from multiple directions (including the east) have built a patchwork of surfaces in exposed, alpine areas.  In the areas we traveled we found wind slabs to be shallow but quite reactive. We suspect larger and more reactive slabs at upper mountain elevation above 7000 ft due to recent strong winds from multiple directions. 

Instability was confined to wind loaded slopes above 6500 ft.

We found moist, heavy snow extending to 6000 ft on our tour up the north side of Mt Hood.  We observed a few fresh rollerballs on sunny aspects, but no new wet loose avalanches. At 6000 ft, cold surfaces prevailed with plenty of wind-affected snow. On leeward features, we observed cracking and shallow pockets of wind-drifted snow. Recent strong winds left a patchwork of icy surfaces and slabs on this side of the mountain. Scoured, firm surfaces were prevalent along ridgelines and upper-elevation slopes. In some cases, strong winds pushed soft snow further down the slope than usual. 

In a test profile on an NE aspect @ 6000 ft, we observed an HS of 180 cm. We found about 60 cm of snow above the EFC and the recent snow bonded wellto the crust in this location. Snowpack tests produced unremarkable test results on the EFC but did produce SP results (but no propagation) on the 2/11 crust.