Quick report

Powderhouse

David ReichelCentral Sierra Nevada
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Quick report

About 4 inches of new snow was sitting on top of melt-freeze crust in open areas at the base of Powderhouse this morning. Wind gusts were occasionally strong and had knocked most of the snow off trees, even at the base area. Snow depth increased with elevation and there appeared to be around a foot of new snow near the summit below tree line. In the above tree line ridge area wind slab was obvious and fairly reactive. Stepping above a ski track that someone made previously I got a crack that shot out over 10 feet long and about a foot deep. There was graupel present at the interface. More wind-affected slopes closer to the edge had hard, more wind-packed snow where I did not observe any cracking.  The below tree line terrain north-facing terrain held high-quality snow. I did not observe any instabilities in this area. Exiting after noon, the lower parts of the mountain that receive more sun had some wet snow.