Gloptop

Weather: Warming through the day to low 40s at the pass. Clouds below peak elevations. Light to moderate westerly winds, though they swirled around a bit. Snowpack: Variable snow depth and surface hardness, thanks to recent winds. Some scoured spots, some very hard drifts 8-15" thick. Ski penetration 0-40 cm. Most prominent feature below the snow surface is a crust/ facet combination 20-25 cm above the ground at mid-elevations. The crust was pencil hard and about 3 cm thick in a profile at 6200'/ N-facing slope. The facets above the crust were dry, 0.75 mm, and rounding, but sifted easily in a gloved hand. The faceted layer was ~3cm thick and propagated at the top of the layer in large column tests (ECTP 23x2). From nearby weather station data (Pike Creek snotel < 500m N), the crust and facets look to have formed about 10/17 or 18 and been buried Oct. 20 or 21. The 10/13 crust reported elsewhere looks to be just above the ground at this site. Although a concern, the 10/21 crust/facet structure may not survive the warm, dry weather forecast for the next week or so at mid-elevations.