Crusty at Crusader

Cruised up to Crusader cabin today. Staged from the bottom of the road. Road is moderately whooped. Thin (1cm) Melt freeze crust with 4-6 mm surface hoar on top on all aspects up to 2200 m. Above 2200 m, North facing terrain still holding dry snow. We observed two naturally triggered size 2 persistent slabs on alpine features at treeline. They likely failed on surface hoar down 40-60 cm and were 2-3 days old. They were on east and west aspects. The cooling temperatures and cloudy skies were likely decreasing the reactivity of the persistent slabs today, but we were treating the terrain cautiously because the snowpack is structurally weak. As the old saying goes.. “Never trust surface hoar”. We were avoiding large slopes over 30 degrees. With snow in the forecast, the surface hoar/crust combo that is currently on the surface will be one to watch.