February 4-5, 2012, Watson Investigation

We went on a hunt for fun and pow in the blue sky. It worked. Susan's aiming to write a TR later.

Past slides of many types observed on all aspects. Considerable wet activity, not much stepping down, on S aspects. ~1' slabs on N aspects; rarely ran far. Glide cracks and slides on rock faces, etc. on all aspects. Nothing moved for us.

Thin windslab forming in windswept locales, but the bond was pretty good. Crust in the sun, but we avoided it almost entirely. ~1' new snow anywhere unmolested. Tree drip crust guaranteed near trees. Keep it shady, sheltered, and slightly open.

Surprise: An inset, shady, and powdery couloir was transformed into challenging groovy skiing by treebomb wet slides from the couloir's northern (suncatching) rim.

Settling dry pow in the shade remains. Go get it!