A whole mix of snow textures out there. The wind hammered many aspects, especially those facing east and north. Nearly every ridgeline had obvious wind texture, there was heavy riming in the trees, and the skin track kept blowing in throughout the day. The wind-affected snow varied in depth—fully supportable in some spots, just a thin crust in others. In areas where it was actually reactive to a rider, it was about 6 inches deep, possibly sitting on an older weak surface.
True north still held some cold turns in heavy, settled powder.
Solar aspects had a melt-freeze crust in the morning, but by the afternoon, almost anything below 7,000 feet was damp. The upper 1–2 inches of the snowpack was saturated, making for really sticky skiing.
Blown in skin track throughout the day, other parties in front of us
Obvious texture along the snow surface around 8300'
A non-supportable wind crust in many areas
Damp snow surface below 7000' - upper 2" were fully saturated at 6800', even on north facing aspects
