April 30, 2009, Kendall Knob evening tour

Looked at Alpy base on the way in (pretty bumpy and dirty, not a surprise) and based on air temp I decided anything that N or E facing was probably gonna crust up before I got going downhill, so opted for Kendall in the sun instead.

Knob was about what you would expect. Not corn yet. Big grains on top but still too little consolidation below. Ski pen 2-3" pole pen a foot. Could get it to sloosh slide on slopes steeper than 30 degrees. A few bare spots but the tour could probably go another 2 weeks? Was hoping to find places where an old crust could provide a false floor but I found that only rarely, on the very top ridge, or in flat spots like the old roads. Nice view to Rainier, still fun in that sloppy sort of way, and great to be skiing in the sun, which lingers on this slope til at least 7:30.