Wind loading and warming temps at Bear Scratch

While snowfall totals have been record breaking inbetween Truckee and South Lake along the Sierra Crest, the Eastern shore of Lake Tahoe recieved a lighter load of fresh snow. This precip was great enough to fill in much of the terrain along the East Shore, it would behove all parties to expect shallow snowpack above rocks, boulders, and logs above treeline in the Herlan Peak area. Snowpack in the trees to the North and West of Herlan Peak is >90cm deep, but contains obstacles including buried fallen trees and talus. Snowpack from the ridgeline down to treeline (N/W aspects) is variable due to wind loading (wind slabs ~6cm thick at surface releasing while touring) and undulating terrain (rocks, chutes, trees, bush patches). Skiing down from the ridgeline produced heavy sluffing episodes, which required frequent stops/safe spots to manage sluff. Upon return to the car, a shift in cloud cover was observed where direct sunlight and warmer temperatures began to obviously effect surficial snow layers, producing sluff events without human triggers. 

Overall, backcountry users along the East Shore should be aware of varying snow depths, shallow rocks, wind loading near ridgelines, and a rapidly warming shallow snowpack over the next few days. This warming snow layer will result in transformed snow grains and may act as a weak layer that will be buried during the coming weather systems this week.