Snow conditions at Blue Lakes

Went riding from the Hope Valley Sno Park to Blue Lakes today. Snow was very firm and icy when leaving the trucks at 10am and we had issues with snowmobiles overheating (even after putting down ice scratchers). Upon leaving the trail, we encountered a crust that supported snowmobiles but was breakable when walking on foot. We found a few isolated areas such as gulleys and drainages with 1-2 inches of unconsolidated, wind drifted snow. We also observed some large cornices.

By noon, snow had softened up slightly, improving riding conditions. 

Winds remained around 5mph most of the day, with occasional 10-15mph gusts. We did not observe any signs of instability.