September 17, 2004, Muir

I was so damn excited about the new snow that I got up to about 9,500 ft. before I realized that I could only see about 10 ft. in front of me.
In short, the snow was f'in sweet, but the visibility was mostly dreadful. Snow varied from dense, wind-affected pow to a supportive, easy-turning crust, and it varied often. Due to the stiff winds (a climbing group on the way down said they had a tent destroyed last night) there was some crappy ice higher up, but it mostly had enough dust on it to be manageable.
The visibility was as bad as the snow was fun. I frequently stopped and waited until a small gap in the cloud appeared, then skied until it closed. I didn't want to just braille my way down in one shot and not enjoy the snow.
It started snowing in earnest at about noon, and only turned to sleet just above Paradise. Tomorrow should be awesome if the visibility holds up. Have fun.