Observation Date: 03/07/2015

Route/Location:
South couloir – was icy in the morning (obviously) but presumably “corned up” nicely later
East couloir – the cornice is big and nasty. can be avoided on climber’s Left by climbing really steep snow. Downclimb for skiing purposes. Side-stepping in from the top would be bold.
West couloir – the runnel is as small and tame as I’ve ever seen it. chalky powder, good skiing.
North face – top 200ft was rime ice. below that was wind-affected powder.

Observed a lot of near-surface faceting, mainly on shady terrain. Booting the couloirs (West in particular) was slow going since underneath a thin melt-freeze crust there was a lot of faceted snow (post-holing).

Weather:
Partly cloudy in the morning and nothing but blue skies the rest of the day.

Wind:
Infrequent mild West winds.

New Snow: No New Snow

Avalanche Activity:
wet slide debris below a lot of steep East, South and West aspects. both old and from today.

Other Comments:
Road – P5000 from Arlee to Twin Lakes was surprisingly mellow. some snow and ice but seemed like even a passenger car (with good tires) could do it.

Riddell Lakes Trail – sustained, skinnable snow level was at about 5700 ft.

Lost & Found – I found a black, reusable grocery bag with a single Grivel spare crampon strap inside, just below the East couloir cornice. I moved it to the transition spot above the West couloir (under a small rock) but then forget it grab it later. If someone wants to grab/remove it before it blows away or gets buried that would be great.

Observer: Andrew Mayer