East Waterhouse

On a guided tour on the east slopes of Waterhouse Peak today, I found cold fresh snow that remained unaffected by the occasional periods of filtered sun that we experienced throughout our tour. Ski penetration was generally boot-top to knee deep, and I measured boot penetration near the summit at 70cm. At our transition near the summit, I measured the snowpack depth to be 300cm. 

I saw very limited signs of wind slab instability on our tour. Sparsely treed areas on the top third of the mountain showed some wind-affected surface texture and slightly reduced ski penetration, but informal tests in these areas showed no significant cracking. Approaching the summit, we saw light to moderate blowing snow from the southwest winds. At the most exposed and frequently loaded spot (pin location) near the summit, stomping on top of a small test slope produced a shallow 4-6" wind slab that was not much wider than my skis and only ran a few feet. (photo 1)