Sledded to and then toured Upper Whitefish Lake area from Olney trailhead.
Calm to no wind in protected areas, moderate wind and blowing snow on ridges.
Noticeably sun-affected snow surface on southern and western aspects: very dense to hard surface snow (but not breakable crust). Comparatively soft and creamy snow at low elevations where protected by topography to the south and west and directly behind large tree shadows. Soft and somewhat light/slightly creamy snow on northerly aspect.
We found no propogation or horizontal affect in an ECT on northerly aspect at approximately 7,000 ft (ECTN). Despite being on the leeward aspect, snowpack observed in ~5ft deep pit showed mostly homogenous, cohesive pack with no noticeable buried crusts or faceted layers (or windloaded slab) and good stability. Total snowpack measured at 320cm deep.
No obvious signs of instability observed in the area with intermittent broken views to the Livingston Range and west toward the Kootenais.
Well-developed surface hoar observed on non-solar slopes.
