Glen Lake

I parked around 5350 feet and skinned right from the car. Temperatures were above freezing when I left the car at 9:30. They remained near or just above freezing most of the day.

Despite above-freezing temperatures, the snow surface stayed frozen. This was due in part to the wind's cooling influence. Winds varied in speed and direction based on my location in the terrain. At ridgetop, winds were strong from the northwest.

Despite the wind, there was no new wind slab formation, as there was almost no snow available for transport. Surface snow was mostly locked up in crusts and old hard wind slabs. I did find isolated pockets of soft snow on high northerly aspects.

If the crust had broken down, I would have kept an eye out for rollerballs and wet loose avalanches on solar slopes. The crust did not break down, which made for challenging ski conditions.

I saw a few old wind slab avalanches on steep northerly aspects, and one glide crack.

I saw some roller balls from previous days, but none from today. No signs of instability observed today.

The surface remained refrozen on all aspects up to about 7500 feet. At 7700 feet and above, northerly aspects felt soft, with surface snow composed of thin crust and small facets. At 8400 feet, east aspects also began to feel softer as the crust disappeared. I did not investigate any west aspects.

On most southerly slopes, snow underneath the crust was moist.