Given Brian's obs on Lewis Peak and Doug's from Mount Ogden, a jaunt up Cutler seemed fitting. With Ben Lomond now in the pre-storm obs, all the major massifs are covered. The various microclimates on the ridge made for somewhat niche surface snow conditions in spots. However, I don't think that will matter all that much when it comes to actually managing the avalanche terrain once the weekend storm arrives, so I'm going to apply some broad brush strokes that should do the job.

Below about 6800ft or so, solar terrain harbors has a crust-facet-crust-facet structure (top-down). The polar terrain has a facet-crust-facet structure. Crusts are all ca. 5cm thick (or a couple smaller crusts in very close proximity), decomposing, and generally supportive. Facets include a bit of small grain surface hoar, but dominantly just near-surface faceting. Neither the facets nor the crust on top bode well for storm interface bonding, and the facets of course present a potential buried PWL. Above 6800ft, wind has pounded most of the terrain regardless of aspect. This has resulted in 1F to P hard windboard below a few inches of faceting surface snow. The windboard has started to decompose a bit here and there, but the punchline is once again a slick bed surface (side hilling was slippery at best) with facets atop. In more protected locations with less wind, there was a deeper pile of surface facets (4-6") atop the old crust, which varied in supportability from bullet to breakable. Above 8000ft, the wind effect continued, with what I imagine were similar conditions in the upper elevations, too.

The best turns I found were in protected locations on recycled pow (aka facets) on variable crust, made chunky by old tracks. Avy hazard and the riding both likely depend on how much rain (and how high up) and how much wind happens this weekend. Picutred below is Rodeo Ridge. The bright highlights on the various E/NE ridges are bare ice.

If looking for repeater paths, I'd try here. This is the Cutler headwall between Ben Lomond and Willard where the pre-New Years natural avalanche cycle occurred.

Somehow simultaneously wind-scoured and wind-loaded on everything, everywhere, all at once (upper elevations on Ben Lomond).