General Observations from Waterhouse

With the relatively new snow and still some uncertainty in our ability to identify safe terrain today given the advisory, we decided to head to Waterhouse Peak for a tour. Our approach from Grass Lake was very deep, about thigh to hip deep, before we connected with the established skin track. There were several signs of settling in the area, with the most obvious sign being relatively recent "snow bombs" having fallen off the surrounding trees. Settlement cones were also obvious at the base of large trees. We skied the slightly steeper due-north face off the peak. During the descent, there were no signs of instability. Turns were clean, with no "stepping down" to the buried weak layer. Through most of the descent we skied as a group in pitches, with tree wells being the greater hazard for the day. At lower elevations (below about 8400 ft), the snow had set up quite nicely and was very supportable, with buried logs and boulders not appearing to pose a significant risk.