Headed out for a pre forecast shift walk to check out the snow surfaces before this next storm system. While it was obvious that the front was moving in, given the elevated winds, and gloomy weather in all directions, there was very little transport occurring. I assume the lack of transport was due to the variety of firm snow surfaces that currently cover the range. Almost every aspect that I covered possessed a solid frozen snow surface, or windblown crust. The skiing outside of groomers was not very pleasant. When I moved into Hidden Canyon I was able to find a few small protected areas in the trees that still held a few cms of soft graupel at or near the snow surface. While I was surprised to still find soft, intact graupel, this was not very widespread or connected. Still, something to be aware of on mid and upper elevation protected terrain features.

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