Rose Knob Observation

We set out for Rose Knob from Incline Lake a few minutes before 8:00 this morning. A solid refreeze overnight left the snow surface hard in the trees on the east aspect of Incline Peak and all the way up to treeline with 0cm of boot or ski penetration. Once we left the ridgeline on the north saddle of Incline Peak and began sidehilling along the TRT toward Mud Lake on a south facing slope, the top 3-5cm became soft and loose on top of a hard refreeze layer. A constant breeze in exposed areas kept the snow firm everywhere except these SE-SW facing slopes. While enjoying the views on the summit of Rose Knob, the wind died off almost completely and a near immediate change in the snow surface was obsereved. Boot pen averaged 10cm with one occurence as high as 20cm, and the surface on the south facing slope of Rose Knob was soft but supportable with dry corn on the surface. By 10:00 we were back below treeline, where the snow was still supportable but noticeably more sticky. While above treeline we noticed two cornice failures, both on east facing aspects. Neither of these slides appeared to have triggered an avalanche.