Observation: Middle Sink

Even at the moderate elevations at the sinks, most aspects had faceted and sugary snow from 5-20 cm thick at the bottom of the snowpack. I did not experience any large collapses or shooting cracks, but felt many small collapses underfoot. The trees and terrain of the sinks protected the areas we visited from any significant wind slabs or loading. Developing surface hoar was noted anywhere shade protected the snow from afternoon sun. On the return trip, we noticed crust developing on southern aspects which had warmed earlier in the afternoon then frozen after the sun dropped below the horizon. The snow was overall very skiable and enjoyable on the conservative slopes we chose to ski.