Waterhouse

We toured at Waterhouse today from Luther Pass to the peak. When we started at 10:30 am, it was snowing although the snow was moist. We saw evidence of winds on trees, boulders, and tree stumps throughout the tour at all elevations. Mid-slope at about 8700 feet, I broke a cornice on a large boulder fairly easily. Near the peak, looking SE, the ridgeline consisted of a long unbroken cornice (see picture). Adjacent to the peak, I broke another cornice easily; this cornice was also formed by S winds.

We broke trail from bottom to top on low angle terrain. Skinning conditions were challenging with about 40 cm of fairly heavy powder snow. We descended the low angle ascent route, and it was enjoyable. It was lightly snowing throughout our tour, but when we reached Grass Lake, it was raining at about 3 pm.