Relay Peak - Developing near surface facets on N aspects and Nov corn on E aspects.

Today's tour was on the East Ridge of Relay peak to look at how the snowpack has changed over the past week, to examine for any developing weak layers on northerly aspect terrain, and to assess snow surface melt on solar aspects.

Ascending up from Hwy 431, coverage was patchy and less than one foot deep until I reached about 9,000'. Above that elevation, snowcover became continuous on all aspects with a depth of 1 foot to 2.5 feet. Conditions were supportable with a superficial melt-freeze crust on all aspects in the morning and either ski supportable wet snow or residual surface crust in the afternoon depending on aspect and forest canopy/sun exposure.

In my snowpit in near treeline terrain on a NNE aspect at just over 9,500' I was able to take a look at how the layering of the snowpack is changing over time. I saw no problematic weak layers at this time, but the early stage near surface facets are something to keep an eye on.

Exiting off of Relay via E aspect terrain provided supportable corn conditions.

Descending back out the approach route, the wet snow remained supportable and touching logs/rocks with my skis was pleasantly limited.