Spring Conditions on Jakes Peak

Another spring-like day had us looking for wet snow on sunny slopes. We went to Jakes Peak and ascended sunny SE-S aspects. The amount of melting on these slopes since the beginning of February is impressive. The many places at the lower elevations had melted out completely. We did manage to find a path of mostly continuous snow through these areas, but it required lots of weaving around and scouting. The coverage improved in the middle third of the climb, but the snowpack was still only 2-3 ft deep in most places. Once we got into the more wind-exposed areas above 8400 ft, more rocks and other obstacles were poking through the surface. 1-2 inches of soft wet snow had formed by 10 am on sunny aspects. When we descended at noon, up to 3 inches of wet snow existed on a supportable base. This supportable snow below the wet snow seems to have well-established drainage through it. Ski cuts on steep slopes did not produce significant signs of wet snow instability during our tour.