Dec 22, 2007, Mt Catherine

Chris, Eric, Holly, and myself headed out to Mt. Catherine Saturday.  On the ascend up the north side we found no signs of cracking or woofing.  At 4200ft we dug a pit on an ~35 degree N facing slope.  There were various semi distinct layers above the December rain crust.  A compression test yielded a crumbly result on the 8th swing from the elbow.  A sheer test yeilded a clean result on a layer a few inches up from the rain crust, but it took a good yank.  We continued to the top.  On the ski down there were no signs of any movement on the lower angle slopes.  A couple ski cuts in one of the steeper chutes let off a couple sluffs (One ~6" down, the other ~12" down).  The skiing was a tad thick but good.  For a day in which we were not sure how much skiing we would actually get in, it was surprisingly satisfying.