Clearing to bluebird. Snow texture shows that some wind loading of leeward slopes, on S, SW, W aspects, as storm passed through.
Observation: Summit
Location: Gardens
General reconnaissance of post Nov 9th storm. Most parking lots were plowed to Manitoba. Some windloading on S, SW, W slopes. Sluffing in steep isolated pockets on all aspects. We skinned to 2300ft, conditions were great! We were curious about stability where the pre-Nov 9th snow lies underneath the storm snow. We didn’t get high enough, but we did see one slab avalanche ~4900ft on a S aspect that looks like it may have been triggered by windloading. This may have broken on the pre Nov 9th snow.
Weather
Snow surface
Surface hoar at all elevations to 2300ft. Began to melt away in the sunlight at lower elevations.
Snowpack
We dug on an east aspect at 2280ft on a 30-degree slope. 105cm pit from the single Nov 9 snowstorm event. No obvious signs of instability in our test pit, no fracturing in tests. The snow at the ground was storm snow with a thin layer of melt forms.
Surface hoar on snow surface to 2300ft.
Slab avalanche on the South aspect of Mooswa ~4900ft