Wet Snow on Rubicon Peak

Significant melting occurred this week at Rubicon. We had to hike on dirt up to about 7300 ft. until we found enough snow to put on our skis. As we skinned up, we noticed uneven snow surfaces and the beginnings of sun cups on the northerly aspects. By 9:30 am, soft wet snow already existed on these northerly aspects. Near the summit of Rubicon, the wind increased dramatically and the snow surface firmed up along the ridge. We crossed over to the sunny E aspects and found wet, mucky, and unsupportable snow at 10:45 am. Stepping off our skis resulted in sinking shin-deep in wet snow. Some rocks and areas of dirt had melted out on this sunny side even at the upper elevations. After descending on low angle slopes for a few hundred feet, we traversed back over to the more supportable northerly aspects. On the traverse, ski cuts on short but steep areas above tree wells triggered small loose wet sluffs.