Variable Conditions in the Castle Peak Area

If I had to use one word to describe the conditions on Castle Peak today, "variable" would be my choice. We explored several aspects and a range of elevation bands. We found some soft unconsolidated snow in the near and below treeline terrain on shady N-NNW aspects sheltered from the winds. However, anytime we veered off the more north-facing places to NW or WNW aspects, we could feel sun crusts. W and E aspects had firm crusts due to wind scouring and melt-freeze conditions. The SW-S-SE facing slopes also had frozen melt-freeze crusts in the morning, with shallow patches of recent snow left over in some places. 

Higher on the peak, snow surfaces become more wind affected. We encountered the expected mix of wind-shaped snow. Ski kicks triggered minor cracking in isolated areas where small piles of wind-drifted snow existed. Other than those small cracks, we did not see any other signs of instability. 

As we descended Castle Peak in the afternoon, we returned to the sun-exposed SW and S aspects. Daytime warming had left about an inch of soft wet snow on top of a melt-freeze crust on these slopes in areas where the winds had removed the thin layer of recent snow. This melting slowed down after 1 pm as cloud cover developed.