9,450' NE facing 83 cm total depth. Bottom 20 cm total sugar. On SE face at 8,900', easy to get cracking, whumphing. Poor bonding of the top 22 cm on the sun crust that was noted at that location last Sunday, 17 Jan.

A lot more snow than last week, but not very supportable. It was hard to get enough movement on shallower terrain to make turns, and it was easy to sink enough that downed logs were a hazard. Not quite the easy skiing of the past few weeks.

Forecaster Comments: The "sinking through the snowpack" that Chris described is a big red flag for the future. I also experienced similar conditions around the Miller Flat area. What is happening here is that we are sinking through the new powder and continuing to sink through the older snow which is now thoroughly faceted and is "unsupportable" now. This loose sugary snow is bound to cause avalanches as we load more new layers of snow on top. Kobernik