Wintery April day on Powderhouse peak.

   Our tour up Powderhouse peak today felt more like mid-winter conditions. There was 4-6" of new snow at the bottom of the trailhead and 8-10" of new snow above 9000'. Snow was cold and unconsolidated not forming or showing signs of storm slab movement throughout our tour by early afternoon. The weather on the ascent was a mix of light to strong precipitation with a variance of temperature gradients as we observed a pretty sustained graupel event. There was also light and strong periods of winds. The wind was strongest at the summit and was transporting the most snow. This is where we found the formation of soft wind slabs, semi-stubborn to release but up to 8" in depth. These wind slabs were only found above tree line and was loading on NW-N-NE aspects on the summit. Riding conditions on the descent felt a lot deeper than 10" of snow and more like 14" as you'd push down into the snow from Tuesday's storm event. Snow was fast on the surface but you would feel a density change the harder you pushed. As we got lower we started to be more mindful of hidden stumps and other sharks beneath the new snow but did not encounter any.