Quick report
"Pillowed" snow was noted at the top of Left Gully on climber's right and at the top of Chute. Both of these locations were probably wind loading. Jumping on them would not cause a slide running for a significant distance but would push someone onto rocks and brush which could injure a person. Elsewhere, snow was scattered amongst rocks, ground and krumholz with no significant loading. Strong sun triggered some icefall in the Bowl. I did not venture higher than the top of Chicken Rock Gully due to hanging ice overhead exposed to strong sunlight. No snow instabilities noted. Some icefall noted.
Weather
- Air Temp
- n/a
- Cloud Cover
- few
- Wind Loading
- none
- Rain Elevation
- n/a
- Recent Snowfall
- 12
- Snow Avail For Transport
- none
Mostly sunny skies with no wind. Temps were roughly 0 C but with solar exposure, melting was noted.
Snowpack
Snow on the ground was observed above 2500 feet and microspikes came in very handy on the TRT above 2600 feet. At Hermit Lake, much untracked snow was slabby and the Hermit Lake caretakers reported high winds the prior 2 days through Hermit Lake. Snow depth was up to boot top. I did not bring my snow nerd tools, hence very little snow science done.