In areas where I traveled, the snow height was between 1.2 and 1.5 m. The snow surface was moist in thick trees. In open areas, the snow surface was a 2 cm thick breakable melt-free crust (MFcr) on the more southerly aspects and a mix of thinner MFcr and wind-packed slab. Above treeline and in areas exposed to the winds, the snow cover was patchy, with a Sastrugi snow surface in areas with snow.

A field trip to assess the snow surface, measure the depth of melting layers from the recent warm spell, and examine the reactivity of underlying weaker layers.

I traveled on all elevations from west to southwest aspects

I headed north from DCOT barn to the saddle west of Uneva Peak.

The snowpack is strengthening on south-to-west aspects. It primarily consists of rounding facets with a few melt-freeze crust (MFcr) layers, mainly in the upper portion. These crust layers became less frequent as I moved onto more westerly and less southerly slopes. In isolated areas, a P+ hard wind-packed slab capped the snowpack, while in other areas, the surface was an MFcr. However, in both snowpits I dug, neither surface crust was strong enough to produce an ECTP.

On the north aspect, the snow surface featured deep sastrugi, and the snowpack appeared slightly weaker, ranging from 4F to 1F hard facets. However, I did not dig a pit to assess crack initiation and propagation on this aspect.

Above freezing temperature, cloudy skies, and strong SW winds above treeline.