Surface Hoar on Castle Peak

Snowpack stability is very good with no snowpack test results and informal observations showing no problematic layers.  A layer of buried surface hoar exists 4-5'' below the snow surface.  Where this layer was found throughout the area, it was not reactive to ski cuts or snowpack tests.  The buried surface hoar was found mostly in protected below to near treeline terrain on NW-N-NE aspects but was variable in its distribution.   Thick low level cloud cover existed below 7800' for all day with sunny clear skies above 8000'.  Thin sun crusts were beginning to form on solar aspects today.