Great weather, bad snow. Life is all about trade offs. The ravages of wind and sun have taken their toll on the snow surface and it's a really mixed bag out there. Dave Garcia was up on Tuesday and he reported widespread wind damage and sun crusts with occasional areas of soft snow in sheltered terrain. Five consecutive days of strong, southwest winds have left behind old, hard slabs of wind drifted snow on leeward slopes near and above treeline. These are growing increasingly more stubborn to human triggers but on some northerly aspects, thick slabs overly layers of weaker snow underneath. If you are traveling on northerly aspects you'll want to get out your shovel and look for buried weak layers that exist on some slopes in the top meter of the snowpack.

Mathew Sumner was up in the high country yesterday and he observed isolated hard wind slabs and poor snowpack structure. Read his observation here.

The wind has really done a number on alpine terrain. Dave Garcia photo.

For recent observations go here. If you are getting out in the backcountry, let us know what you find.