Rain Crust on Mt. Judah

Several things stood out on my tour around Mt. Judah today. First, a thin rain crust existed to the top of Mt. Judah at 8200 ft. A layer of frozen rain had encased all of the trees as well. As the day warmed up, this ice started falling off the trees making travel on open slopes preferable. The surface snow also warmed up to a more "mashed-potato" like consistency in the afternoon.

Second, the dense snow on the surface was more consistent and supportable than it was yesterday on Silver Peak. This supportability also made the travel conditions better than yesterday. 

Third, snowpit tests and ski cuts on steep wind-loaded test slopes did not produce obvious signs of lingering instability. However, clouds and fog obscured the large wind-loaded slopes on the east face of Judah and limited my wind-slab observations. I also did not venture onto any large wind-loaded slopes. Large cornices still loom above most wind-loaded slopes. I gave these a wide berth. I did kick the smallest cornices above small test slopes. These kicks dropped suitcase-size cornice pieces onto the test slopes.

Fourth, I looked for signs of buried surface hoar on open slopes sheltered from the winds. I did not find any obvious clues that a problematic layer of surface hoar existed in this area. The fog and flat light made it difficult to be certain that the surface hoar did not exist. There were obvious settlement cracks around trees indicating consolidation in the recent snow.