Route today was Cardiff with exit via Bengal Tiger into Mineral Fork.
Probably first observation of the year with no avalanche problems listed. Generally Low hazard today, and the only sign of instability was a small, class 1 wind slab we noticed dropping into Cardiff, and this was likely already reported from Brett Carroll's nice observation from Cardiff on Saturday. Otherwise the rain and temperature crust seemed to lock things up nicely, and truly the first day of this otherwise scary season where I felt comfortable in steeper terrain.
The crust from Thursday's rain and very warm temperatures is frozen above 8500', and 10-15 cms (4-6") thick. Below 8500' it is not as frozen, but still quite supportable. Cooler temperatures over the next 36 hours should help refreeze this crust layer even further.
Only potential fly in the ointment is a layer of graupel sitting on top of this crust. Snow from both Friday and Saturday has left a layer of graupel just above the crust with, about 5-15 cms (2-6") of dense, spongy snow on top. Generally fair bond to the crust below, but the graupel layer may be a weak layer with additional loading on top. Any slides would likely be shallow and pockets, but the crust would provide an excellent bed surface for slides to run on. Video below briefly describes what Mark and I saw today.
The past six weeks has allowed a mid elevation snowpack to form, but the recent warm weather - and especially Thursday's rain event - really affected mid elevation exits. Photos showing west aspects in Mineral Fork below Kessler that are now moth-eaten, as well as Mineral Creek which is now completely wide open.
Usually don't comment much on ski conditions, and today was tricky with very poor visibility at times. But ski and travel conditions are rather quite good at the moment. There is a 2.5 meter snowpack up high, and recent wind, rain, and snow has really smoothed things out. Travel is easy in the alpine zones; the conditions we've been waiting for quite some time.
The structured snowpack on north aspects remains a concern - and we may be paying a lot of attention to it later this week with an anticipated warmup - but for now it is a good time to take advantage of conditions.
