Ophir Peak

We went to Ophir Peak to evaluate a location with known surface hoar burial during last weekend's storm. We also hoped to assess wind slabs and wet snow formation on solar aspects. As we drove through Martis Valley, we could see snow plumes coming out of the Mt Rose wilderness due to the NE winds. In the Tahoe Meadows, winds were moderate around 10:00 am and grew lighter throughout our tour. This area held 1-2cm of new snow from yesterday. In sheltered northerly terrain on the approach to Ophir Peak, boot pen was near boot-top with cold, unconsolidated snow still persisting from last weekend's storm. As we gained the ridge, snow surface conditions became wind-affected. We dug a pit near 9,000' on a N aspect and found the buried surface hoar 142cm below the surface. Tests targeting this layer produced no results (ECTX, DTN). Additionally, we could not find any evidence of avalanche activity during the storm in the potential slide path on Ophir Peak. On the ridge, we could see signs of the heavy SW storm winds and last night's strong NE winds. We also noted very small ~2" wind slab development from last night's NE winds. Wet snow formation was beginning on solar aspects around 11:00 am. We observed no significant wet snow instabilities when we left the area around 12:30 pm, but we did see some small skier-triggered roller balls on the SE side of Incline Lake Peak while driving back down the hill.