Quick report
We went into the day with a mindset of possibly just taking our skis for a long walk, but were pleasantly surprised by how much the sun softened the snow. The Gulf of Slides trail is nearly completely thawed, and the longest stretch of connected snow is a few hundred meters long, if that. I was happy to not have taken my skins with me. The new snow from Sunday/Monday had melted at all points below 3800ft There were a few large chunks of ice that had fallen down Main Gully, but it didn’t seem as though there were anymore large chunks that could fall. By roughly 11:30, boot/crampon penetration on the climb of Main Gully was just to the forefoot, and all new snow lacked cohesiveness. The center of Main Gully has long been out of play, but the looker’s right arm was connected and skiing very well, with only two spots of having to sneak through the trees. After an extended break with another skier (and his dog), we went to Gully 2, and booting up at 3:00 had softer, slightly sloppier snow, with crampon/boot penetration up to the mid foot. At ~4700 feet, we found a 10x10 meter area in the middle of the avalanche path with about a centimeter of graupel sealed under a sun crust. I don’t think it has any consequence to the skiing or safety, but it was an interesting thing to see, and I attached a picture. Gully 2 skied very well from top to bottom. Another wonderful day in the Gulf of Slides!