May 13
Area:
White Pine
Elevations, slope angles and aspects:
7500’-10200’, angles to 40°, northerly aspects.
Scotties, viewed from the bottom.
Avalanche activity:
Some recent wet slide activity from the last few days of warm temperatures and a lack of a refreeze.
Slopes skied:
Lake Peak
and Red Baldy
Timp, from the top of Red Baldy
Snow surface and conditions:
Another round of above average temperatures have melted snow line to around 9000’. Walked to the large mid elevation meadow before I put on skis and it was a chore to thrash through the shrubs for access to the main Red Baldy gully.
Snow above the meadow is solid cover. The lack of a refreeze made the last storm snow soggy, with very slow skiing and soaked climbing skins. The underlying pack is summer snow and quite supportable. Pole probing identified several solid crusts. Ski cuts did produce some minor rollers and point releases within the top few inches. None of those ran very far.
Weather:
It was a warm sunny day, unfortunate for the middle of May.
Evaluation:
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