Observation: Alta Ski Area

Nice to see so many friendly faces in the mountains today! You can skin right from the base with skis or boards on, though you'll still need to dodge a few rocks on the way down. The heavy, dense snow from our last storm provided surprisingly good coverage, and the supportive snow surface made for enjoyable travel.

One thing that caught my attention was how quickly the upper 6 inches of snow have already begun to facet on shady slopes at mid and upper elevations. With little significant weather on the horizon, we'll want to keep a close eye on this developing layer of weak surface snow. Otherwise, the snowpack appeared generally stable where we traveled today, and Normal Caution is advised.

Thanks, Alta, for letting us walk uphill!