February 8, 2004, Crystal backcountry

Checked in with ski patrol for our morning briefing, ran into Brent H and party on their way out of patrol. 21 degrees and a slight wind at the base of Crystal. There had been some consistant winds during the week and a trace of new snow on Saturday night. North and East facing slopes had some slab releases and some noted on the east facing slopes of the "King". With that in mind Ron, myself, Stefan, and Jerry headed towards East peak to find some west facing slopes. :D The hoar frost on the north side of the tree branches had a cactus spine look. The snow however had a small light layer of non consistent hoar frost. Our up track was over a firm crust with sometimes very slight wind scoured crust in certain areas. We did a quick ski cut and snow evaluation in our area of untracked light to semi light snow before our ski down with good light and an occasional sun break. Those of us that were lighter were able to stay above that light crust in those unsuspecting areas. The lower snow was heavier and did require more management. Ron and Jerry did take some photos and will possibly provide a link for viewing. 8)