Saturated and Sticky Snow on South Aspects

After a morning of rescue practice in the Castle Valley, we headed up Andesite's south side to see what conditions were like. The east facing aspects coming from Castle Valley had seen obvious solar impacts from the morning, and were beginning to re-freeze/harden on the surface. East facing slopes in the trees remained saturated, while similar slopes in clearings showed more surface hardening. We continued on to aspects with more southern exposure, and the surface conditions became even softer. Boot pen varied from ankle deep to boot-top deep. We did not observe any roller balls, but we did not travel on slopes quite steep enough to shed. Ski quality was as expected, with stickey and grabby conditions on the descent.