Soft in the sun and in the shade, firm in between

In the afternoon, sunny slopes became soft and provided good spring-like riding conditions. Shaded slopes still held several inches of cold, weak snow on top of a firm layer. Slopes not fully sunny or shaded were firm and didn't soften even though air temps were warm (these areas were also probably stripped of loose snow by previous winds). No signs of instabilities were observed today.

Video: The surface snow on cold slopes was faceted and weak, and facets still remained at the Jan 4th layer.

Pic 1: Afternoon convective clouds building. Some began to look like thunder heads. Some also appeared to be producing "verga" (rain that doesn't hit the ground).

Pic 2: Lots of debris on the surface from previous winds. In places, the debris was absorbing heat and beginning to sink into the snow.