Quick report
Despite the unbelievably low snowpack at reservoir level it’s still a reasonable facsimile of winter above 6000 ft. The dense underlying snowpack feels like a great day in March, but with countless trees and stumps to avoid. Great climbing and sidehill conditions in 15- 30 cm of soft snow above the crusts. No major surface hoar visible, light winds and temps in the low to mid 20’s. Biggest surprise was the sizeable cornice formation, which we haven’t seen too much of year this season. Numerous cornices in the upper basins have collapsed and slid, although none too recently. That gave us confidence to ride steep easterly slopes one at a time. Also, as we worked our way south, each basin got progressively deeper, indicating that the Swan experienced strong lake effect with the last dump.