Light and variable winds, temps near freezing, partly cloudy skies.
Observation: Turnagain
Location: Sunburst
Hiked from Sunburst parking lot to Taylor pass then to sunburst weather station. No snow across the flats. Difficult ascent and descent for the first 500 vertical feet. Snow quality improved around 2200′. No cracking collapsing or whoomphing on our entire tour. No other signs of instability except the very evident glide crack problem. Random pole probes revealed around 40-60cm total depth.
Weather
Snow surface
No snow at parking lot, mixed bag of 5-20cm deep slushy patches for the first 300-400 vertical, thickening snowpack to around the 2300' level. Approximately 40-60cm avg found throughout the rest of the tour.
Snowpack
No formal tests, hand shears and pole probing revealed a fairly dense snowpack with well bonded layers throughout our tour.
It was notable how supportable the snow was (easy to travel over thin spots without hitting rocks).
Much of the Sunburst face is a conglomeration of Glide Cracks. The early runs and up towards Taylor pass were the cleanest areas.