Mt. Judah

About half an inch of new snow existed on top of a weak refreeze crust in the Mt. Judah backcountry today. Slightly more new snow existed in wind-loaded areas and less in wind-scoured areas. The weather felt warm and humid, and the cloud cover helped spread that warmth to all aspects. We started feeling wet snow on all aspects from the beginning of our tour. The cloud cover also helped slow down today's warming, but we could still trigger roller balls, pinwheels, and shallow sluffs of wet snow on steep slopes by 10 am. By noon, the crust below the new snow had started to soften, and some spots become unsupportable. 

We also saw the results of the strong SW winds from the last few days. Large overhanging cornices hung off many ridges in the Donner Summit area, and wind-carved snow surfaces and slabs of wind-drifted snow existed in open areas. Ski kicks triggered cracking in the wind slabs on some test slopes and not on others. The cornices along the summit ridge of Judah had been knocked down with explosives.