Supportable, if Variable, Snow on Relay Peak

Took a tour today up to Relay Peak via the summer radio tower road from Tahoe Meadows. We left the car at about 7:30 AM, where I was comfortable in my columbia sun shirt and a vest. The snow was very supportable to foot travel and we walked to the base of the south face of Tamarack (aspect where snowmobilers regularly access the road). On the way out to Relay Peak, I was somewhat surprised at how solid the overnight refreeze was (radiative cooling can do wonders). Through our entire skin to the peak, snow on all aspects yielded only boot-sole deep penetration on a supportable crust. From the base of Relay Peak, we took the ridge lookers left of the peak. Fairly significant melt features appeared to have already begun on the snow surface, with about 5-10 cm tall "fins" forming along most of the slope below Relay. We began our first descent at about 10:30 AM and found quite variable snow; the texture was sno-cone/slushee/italian ice (for you east coasters) and made for an interesting descent. We skied Relay Peak a second time on a more southerly aspect and found snow that had softened up a little bit more. By the time we were skiing out around 12:00, east aspects were still frozen and there were several signs (old windboard, etc.) that east/northeast aspects near Relay have not melted much yet. We ascended Tamarack and skied the south face back to the car and found some great soft snow. Mount Houghton still has decent coverage and probably skied much better today.