Rubicon Peak Conditions

Began skinning up toward Rubicon Peak at around 8am and the snow was slightly slushy, but mostly firm still. Snow conditions varied a lot throughout our tour. Shaded spots were still firm while sun affected spots got mushy and pinwheels formed off the skin track. At the peak (~9000') at ~11am the snow was firm, despite sun exposure. When we skiied down at 11:30am, we encountered difficult skiing conditions due to a hard crust of 1-2 inches that broke under the pressure of our skis causing tip dive and making turning quite difficult. Once we got under 7200' the snow transitioned to heavy and sticky but was better skiing than the higher elevation snow. The weather was delightful throughout the entire tour - wind was low, even at the peak, temps were warm, and skies became clear after 830am.