Quick report
We were surprised to find a breakable surface crust capping the snowpack this morning as we made our way through terrain. It made for some loud skiing and was a little grabby, but overall we managed to ski through it ok. This week's snow seems to be settling well, and I found a moderate bond at the 12/18 interface using hand pits and formalized tests. It seems like the interface is improving over what I saw a few days ago near Crystal Mountain. When visibility was decent, it was easy to spot recent wind effect, particularly in open areas. Large drifts, small cornices, and scalloped surfaces were all observed.
Travel hazards still exist with plenty of holes and creeks. In wind-exposed areas, all new snow is stripped down to an icy surface with more extensive rocks, bushes, and logs.
Weather
Mostly cloudy with a few breaks of blue sky in the morning. Around 1:15 it started snowing with a few periods of moderate. Very little wind except on ridgelines where we experienced a few gusts.
Snowpack
The snowpack is largely the same as reported elsewhere in the zone. Roughly 40-50 cm sits over the 12/18 MFcr. Below this crust you can find dry snow interspersed with a series of crusts (Mid December Crusts) before a transition to large melt forms in the lower snowpack near the ground. No notable snowpack results today.
The only difference between Rainier and other areas of the zone is that a thin surface crust existed throughout our travels. It likely formed last night or this morning due to freezing fog.
Avalanche
We spotted two slab avalanches while we were out today. One was high on the mountain near Camp Muir. It was in shallow, rocky terrain and connected terrain features. Likely a wind slab. The other was on the back side of Pan Point below Upper Cornice. This one was most certainly a wind slab.