Up to 8” of very light snow fell with very light winds on Tuesday and Wednesday on top of a very stable underlying snowpack. The sun came out yesterday with warmer temperatures and caused some small loose wet point releases on sun-exposed slopes. Last night winds increased at mid to upper elevations for the first time since the new snow fell creating a wind slab avalanche problem for today in specific areas. While sunny skies today will still cause some small loose wet activity at lower elevations, this slope warming will be moderated by the wind at higher elevations.
We spoke of an interesting frozen surface film / thin humidity / zipper crust that formed on slopes throughout the mammoth crest zone a few days ago. Observations yesterday confirmed that it did get completly faceted away and is now undetectable.
Early season obstacles exist! Plenty of rocks, logs, and tree stumps are lurking just under the surface, which has led to injury and broken equipment already. Take your time, be careful, and don’t end your season before it barely begins!