Observations from Carson Pass

Went to Carson Pass looking for new snow over the 1/4 rain crust and near surface facets, but didn't find much new snow. Widespread evidence of previous strong winds, and smaller wind slab pockets were found, along with exposed crust and areas of soft near surface facets. It was challenging to find area unaffected by wind, but we did encounter areas with 2-4 inches of new snow (often near totally scoured surfaces). 

Photo 1: In a near treeline ridge area, the 1/4 rain crust was still on the surface. This is a subtle ridge area but heavily treed and yet any new snow had completely blown away. 

Photo 2: Shooting cracks on a firm windslab on a leeward slope. The firmness and depth of slab varied signficantly over a short distance.

Photo 3: Thickness of wind slab from shooting crack photo (there were soft near surface facets below).

Photo 4: Near the lowest point of our tour (around 8000 feet and well below treeline) there were pockets of wind slab with the characteristic hollow sound and