For most of the day the skies were overcast with low clouds and light winds out of the north. It was lightly snowing with little accumulation.
Observation: Summit
Location: Summit Peak
We toured up Summit Creek to about 2400′. Overcast skies prevented us from seeing recent avalanche activity. It was snowing but not really accumulating. We wanted to see if facets were forming near the Presidents Day crust. We found facets about 1′ deep, under the Presidents days crust. These facets did collapse in one of our ECT test. (ECTP21). Although we are not sure how widespread this issue is in Summit, it is certainly a new concern that we will continue to assess. Snow quality was great in sheltered areas and firm to punchy in wind affected areas.
Looking north as the clouds rolled in.
Weather
Snow surface
The snow surface was soft and rode deeper than expected in wind sheltered areas. In wind exposed areas, the snow surface was a mix up between firm crust to punchy wind slab a few inches thick.
Snowpack
We dug a pit at 1900' on an east aspect that did produce concerning results (ECTP21 SC) about a 1' deep on a layer of facets below the Presidents Day crust. We are not certain how widespread this issue is, but we do know the Presidents Day crust has been found from the parking lot to 2600'. It is a layer we are going to keep our eye on. The Jan facets did not fail in our pit.
Japan Trees