Variable conditions out there. Still able to find 3 inches Dense, Faceted, Loose, cold snow above 9600 and these turns were short lived but fun. In areas where the winds had not damaged this north facing old powder it appears that there is potential for longer runs in higher elevation terrain. Regardless, the winds have definitely been active over the past few days, and stubborn/unreactive winds slabs of up to 4 inches thick were also observed.

The best riding was on supportable/softening surfaces on ESE, S and SW aspects all the way up to the ridgeline. Very good corn-like conditions were found everywhere except in locations where folks failed to follow the simple corn riding rules: "Ride it and move on, and leave no trace". ESE aspects did not soften until 1100 and SW was perfect as late as 1400.

Conditions on the northerly aspect were very similar to those reported by Hardesty on the 4th in his Tri-Canyon observation. The surface snow has faceted on the upper elevation northerly facing slopes, and this layer (2 to 4 inches deep) is resting on a friable melt/freeze crust that is 2 inches thick. Below this layer there is another layer of facets that is between 4 and 5 inches deep. The unseasonably cold overnight temperatures for the past three evenings have driven this process like it was mid winter. These past few days of cold weather appear to have helped turnaround the damage driven by the successive weeks of warm temperatures in mid March. It appears that the snowpack above 8000 feet no longer has buried damp layers.