Soft snow, crusts, and melt-freeze snow on Donner Peak

3-5 inches of soft snow existed on the snow surface on the N-NE aspects on Donner Peak today. This soft snow sat on top of a crust on most slopes; however, on the most shaded N aspects this crust was less noticeable. In wind loaded areas 4-10 inches of snow existed above the crusts. Ski cuts on steep wind loaded test slopes, hand pits, and snowpit tests all indicated a stable snowpack. Some weakness still existed in the upper 1-2 ft of the snowpack; however, propagation tests showed that fractures traveling along these weaknesses has become unlikely (see video).

On the SE-S-SW aspects, 2-3 inches of wet snow existed on top of a firm melt freeze crust as of 3 pm (see photo). No wet snow instabilities were observed in this area.