Crust at Mt Brooks

We planned to hike up Mt Allen Brooks but only made it to the col between Brooks and Elma. Recent warm temperatures had turned the new snow into a widespread melt-freeze crust, which limited travel and we decided to turn around at the col. Traveling uphill was generally easy on a supportive surface, but the breakable crust made descending challenging and inconsistent. Weather was sunny with temperatures above 0°C. No recent avalanche activity was observed. Snowpack was dominated by a melt-freeze crust at all elevations traveled, with strong solar and temperature effects on the recent snow.