Wind and Snow at Yuba Pass

Strong winds, blowing snow, rapid accumulation, and cold temps characterized my trip to Lincoln Ridge near Yuba Pass today. When I got to the parking lot, 3-4 inches (7-10 cm) of new snow had fallen. It was snowing hard. The trees swayed in the wind, and blowing snow was everywhere. I found a few small steep test slopes that remained somewhat sheltered from the winds. Ski cuts on these did not cause cracks to shoot away from my skis, but the new snow slid off the icy crusts below it with ease. 

As I got close to the ridge, wind effects became more widespread. I could see blowing snow, ripples on the snow surface, and small cornices forming near ridgelines. I kicked several small wind-loaded test slopes and consistently triggered shooting cracks in the wind slabs that traveled a few feet. Despite these obvious signs of instability, I did not see any natural avalanches on large wind-loaded slopes.Blowing snow and strong winds made for difficult travel and poor visibility on the ridge.
 
I came back down into more sheltered terrain and noticed that about 3 more inches (7-8 more cm's) of snow had fallen in about 1.5 hours. My previous skin track had almost filled in.