We toured in the upper BCC / Park City ridgeline today. Coverage in the lower and middle elevation (below 8,500') is still very thin. Established skin tracks in shaded areas seemed to fair well, but there still are exposed rocks, shrubs, and trees that pose a hazard to skier/splitboarders. The weather was overcast (BKN), with periods of very light (S-1) snowfall. Winds were inconsistent - primarily easterly - with gusts in the 20 mph range.

Northerly facing aspects above 8,500' held a decent amount of snow for travel. We dug a test pit at 9,300' on a west facing aspect. The height of snow (HS) was 73 cm with increasing hardness down to approximately 25 cm. A PWL with sugary facets of fist (F) hardness extended from 25cm to the ground. Our extended column test result was ECTN18 (crack initiated but no propagation) at 25 cm. This crack initiated along the interface between the PWL and the stronger snow above it. We expected the crack to initiate and propagate; however, our ECT may inaccurate due to shrubs and rocks that created an uneven bed surface at the bottom of the test pit. Additionally, we did NOT find a buried surface hoar layer at this particular location, aspect, elevation band.

There were obvious signs of wind loading and wind slab along exposed ridgelines at upper elevations. Some aspects are completely stripped of snow (primarily southerly ones) while others have deeper snowpack due to wind deposited snow.