Light rain up to around 1000' elevation on the way in, then light snow for most of the day. Winds picked up near treeline, blowing light out of the southeast. Skies were cloudy all day.
Observation: Girdwood
Location: Notch
We toured up to about 2500′ on Notch and dug a pit on a north aspect at 2050′. We found the layer of buried surface hoar that has been problematic lately, but it was unreactive in our snowpit. Given the recent 8-day streak of human-triggered avalanches, we weren’t about to use a single pit to justify stepping up into steeper terrain. We stuck to low-angle terrain and enjoyed high quality snow.
Weather
Snow surface
There was about 2-3" snow on top of a thin crust up to 1300-1400', and 6-12" soft snow above that.
Snowpack
We found the layer of surface hoar down about 2' and unreactive in our snowpit. The Christmas crust was buried about 3' deep, and the Thanksgiving crust was 4-5' deep. No red flags, no signs of recent activity that we could see, other than one debris pile on the bottom of one of the steep paths across Winner Creek on the northeast side of Alyeska.
See attached photos for more detailed snowpit information.
Test pit from a north aspect at 2050'. 01.23.2023
Detailed snowpack information from the pit. 01.23.2023