Looking at below treeline faceted snow in avalanche terrain pre storm.

I toured the upper portion of Third Creek today and the N and E sides of the East Ridge of Relay Peak. I wanted to have a yet another look at our weak, faceted snowpack prior to the upcoming storms expected to start Wednesday night. As in most other below treeline and near treeline locations around the forecast area, any locations with at least some shade and moderate amounts of wind protection hold weak faceted snow. This included the expected N-NE-Easpects as well as some of the shaded SE-S-SW aspects I traveled today. As expected, areas of faceted snow in this area are in poor conditions to handle substantial new snow loading.

I encountered patchy melt-freeze crust on the snow surface in a variety or areas that receive moderate amounts of sun or more. This crust tended to be thin and breakable with weak faceted snow below it. In the areas that had undergone substantial melt, this crust was supportable.