Sunny and warm with calm winds.
Observation: Portage / Placer
Location: Explorer Glacier
Toured up to 3000′ on explorer glacier to check out the snowpack. Note that glacier travel and crevasse rescue skills and equipment are recommended for ski touring in glaciated terrain.
Weather
Snow surface
Variable wind affected snow above treeline. Crusty on southern facing slopes.
Snowpack
We dug two pits at 3000' on a N aspect and did not have any notable results in our stability tests. There were a few layers in the upper 1.5' of the snowpack that looked like interfaces between recent storms, but nothing that was too concerning. The lower snowpack was very strong and the total depth was over 10.5' deep.
Big cornices and some recent wet loose avalanches on peak 3440
We saw some wet loose avalanches coming down as we were leaving around 500pm along the SW face above Portage Creek.
Some interesting wrinkled snow in the meadows along the approach.
Portage lake looked snow free and we couldn't see any open water from the shore.