Observations from NW of Incline Peak.

We toured terrain to the NW of Incline Peak today to assess changes in the snowpack since our last visit on Nov 23. We encountered the expected mix of lower elevation thin snowcover, melt-freeze on solar aspects, ongoing faceting on shaded aspects, and areas of previous scouring by E winds. On the 8,600' to 9,700' NW-N-NE aspects we traveled, ongoing snowpack settlement has occurred and increased the number of rocks emerging from the snowpack. Faceting on northerly aspects in general continues with eroding crusts. Overall the snowpack remains supportable with all layers bonded to each other, but the upper snowpack layer of near surface facets is weak here as in other areas. With no overlying slab at this time, this layer remains in monitor status.

Solar aspects have continued to melt with more and more bare ground emerging. Were were able to find some supportable continuous snowcover on a wind protected SE aspect with decent "corn like" conditions above 9,400'.