Meringue

A quick check of surface/ near-surface conditions in undisturbed snow immediately adjacent to WMR. Limited travel.

• Icy melt freeze crust at low elevations
• 1-2" of new snow (heavily rimed) at mid-elevations. This is sitting on a several old surfaces: semi-supportable sun crusts, or dense, meringue-like drifted snow (drifted and warmed 12/8).
• No meaningful obs from upper elevations.

The 12/8 warming and wind degraded but did not destroy the surface hoar and weak faceted snow that was on the surface prior to 12/8. Surface hoar crystals are still visible, and the layer is noticeably softer than that above and below it, so it likely remains a potential failure plane. 

Last night's snow totals here are 1-2" with little evidence of drifting, though we did not access upper elevation, exposed terrain.