Meiss Meadow

I went to Meiss meadow on the hunt for cold snow and wind deposits.  There has been significantly more wind effect in this area than others.  I climbed to 9,400 on the crest and rode a N-NE slope. There were "extra variable" conditions on both the up and the down. Punchy windboard, wind buff, wind scouring; breakable crust, supportable crust, zipper crust.   The deepest wind drift I found was 15cm, soft with no slab.  The norths were still cold.  I dug a quick pit near a cornice failure with no significant results.  It looked like the wind compacted the alpine snow, and blew anything loose elsewhere. Sheltered places that had a clear view of the sky harbored the best riding conditions; near surface facets. There was "hot pow" in the trees from the ambient air temp above freezing. The ridges were scoured and showed signs of a large wind event (Tuesday night/ Wednesday). 

Souths didn't corn like I was expecting; it wasn't a smooth surface snow. They did get soft and the riding was nice, comparitvely to everything else.  Most of the alpine terrain was covered in mini penitenes or wind sculptures. The clouds and light West wind appeared to prevent melting or softening on W/NW aspects. 

I dug a series of pits and took snow depths in a variety of locations. I didn't find any reactive winds slabs nor concerning weak layers. Pit results were: CT18 RP down 13cm above the Jan 1st rain crust. ECTN, PST 90/100 End on the same layer. Pit HS 89cm, rain crust down 13cm with faceting above the crust.  Average HS in snow loaded areas was 120-145cm, rain crust down 30-40cm.  Near Surface Facets were Fist to 4F varying in depth, dependent on the location and wind exposure. It looked like the snowpack in this location is starting to blow away.  Some places are eroded to the rain crust, others well below. Skiing was mediocre with the occasional good turn.