Went to take another look at the ridge today, this time from LCC, Brett dug a pit on N facing Cardiff Peak, I'll let him describe what he saw, but he did mention things were looking up. I was in somewhat of a hurry to go ski the ridge, been looking at it and poking at it for a while and decided today was the day to ski it with a coating of dense graupel and a smooth surface underneath, and most importantly NO FACETS under the slab on the ridge proper. We did discover that the starting zone up under the rocks was exceedingly thin from avalanching out in the last two measurable storms, the 5 to 10 inches in the starting zone will be a likely candidate to facet over the following days, but the warm temps may slow it down a bit, guess will have to wait and see on that point. Exiting out BCC noted a painful met freeze crust at lower elevations that would rattle your teeth out if you got going to fast. Photos, coverage in the Cardiac area, graupel rolling down from the steep starting zone and pooling in lower angle terrain, two inches of graupel and ski penetration, the rewards of a lot of recon and a little patients.

FORECASTER COMMENTS: Snowpit was dug on north facing Cardiff Peak, 10,200'. Basal facets have gained a lot of strength at this location. Actually, the snowpack looked quite good. I will want to dig more in these upper elevations to see if other locations look as good. Kobernik