Near surface faceting, surface hoar, and sun crust on Echo Peak.

We toured on Echo Peak today, taking a small step out into more consequential avalanche terrain. We avoided areas of complex terrain and stuck to more planar slopes less than 35 degrees in slope angle. We chose to use an E aspect with little concern for the Dec 1 layer for our steepest, most vulnerable portion of the ascent.

Along the way we noted widespread surface hoar ranging in size from 5 mm to 20 mm. The largest surface hoar was near the valley floor. Depending on how the passing weather disturbance next Tues/Wed plays out, there could be an opportunity to bury some surface hoar. It may also be destroyed by warming and winds prior to any snowfall.

We saw early stage near surface faceting on heavily shaded NE aspect slopes. Depending on how long until the next major storm, this may or may not become an issue for another weak layer.

On E aspects, there was a thin sun crust up to at least 7,800'.

No obvious signs of instability observed while on tour in the area.