Center Ridge to 1900′ (Just beyond Snotel to a north aspect)
No cracking, collapsing, or recent avalanche activity.
Wind affect evident on nearby ridgelines, including Tincan Proper and Hippy Bowl.
Recent winds also moved snow in isolated locations below treeline on our route, and at the parking lot.
Small wind loaded features near the parking lot generally just cracked underfoot.
One small glide crack on Seattle Ridge, two gullies south of repeat offender path/the moto uptrack, mid-slope.
Clouds all over the map today!
Scattered in the morning, then moments of few, broken, and even briefly obscured mid afternoon.
19 degrees at the lot in the AM, warming by afternoon.
One very brief period of very light snow midday (no accumulation) with accompanying NW winds, otherwise calm.
~2" of new soft snow over the well established skin track from last weekend, with rimed stellars on the surface.
Ski penetration of 3-4" along the entire route.
Recent sun had made a fragile crust on the vertical, south facing walls of the skin track in sunny spots; some steeper southerly rolls also had a thin crust.
See snowpit structure and test results below, from pits dug ~500 yards northeast of the Snotel station.
Snow structure and test results. Adjacent pits found very similar and consistent structure/total snow depth, with CTs failing with moderate force consistently at the 2/15 interface. CTs on the 2/5 interface - the melt freeze crust that formed on 1/25 - would either not fail in a CT, or would also fail under hard force in our pits.
Wind affect at the parking lot.
Just 1-2" of new snow over the well established skin track from last weekend.
A brief moment of obscured skies and very light snow mid-afternoon, with no real accumulation.