Incline Peak Observations

We toured incline peak today looking for some good turns. We found a supportable crust with an inch or so of lighter new snow on top. The crust was 1-3 inches thick witg about a foot of sugary soft snow below. Stepping outside of the skin track and taking some heavy steps generated some local cracks through the crust just around my own skis. We noticed icicles on most of the trees at all elevations throughout the tour indicating that it had recently rained at all elevations (or a strong melt/freeze).

We skied down the ridge and into the east/northeast facing bowl. We avoided the north facing aspect of the bowl as there were large overhanging cornices on the ridge above this aspect. We enjoyed some surprisingly smooth and fast turns (dust-on-crust like) on the way down.