This area is very battered by the wind and any areas of continuous snow are fairly small in area.

Generally I observed near and above treeline on north through east aspects.

I followed the usual trail towards the gulch which had very good coverage. I ascended to the saddle between Red and Hocus peaks and descended the same way.

One avalanche I saw was in very steep easterly terrain and appeared to be triggered by a skier. The other was older probably from 11/8 or 9 and was from steep rocky terrain. The avalanche is from an area that usually slides multiple times a year.

The snowpack I observed was very variable and would quickly go from dirt to 1 meter in drifts. There was not much connection of snow across features or through the terrain so any slides that maybe triggered would be restrained by the terrain feature. Below treeline the snow is about 30 to 50cm deep and is faceted at the surface or surface hoar. It is generally fist hard but there is a crust close to the ground that has facets above and below. There is no slab of concern below treeline yet. Near Treeline the snow was firmer but not enough to propagate a fracture in extended column tests. There is also a crust close to the ground that has facets below. Above treeline the wind has hammered what snow there is and moved a lot of it into the near treeline band where snow is probably more connected but still shallow. I did find facets forming at the base of the snowpack around a crust and also a small layer of near surface facets about 20cm below the surface that propoagated in an Extended Column Test.

Strong winds were moving snow from a southwesterly direction.