Melt-Freeze Snow at Yuba Pass

It was windy in the parking lot at Yuba Pass this morning. The winds continued to increase as we gained elevation. When we got to the ridge, large trees were swaying, and the roar of the wind made it hard to hear each other talk. Despite all of this wind, we did not see any blowing snow. Melt-freeze crusts in the shade and heavy wet snow in the sun kept the snow from moving.

The crusts melted quickly in today's sunny warm weather. By 11 am, most slopes had wet snow on them. Some mid and low elevation slopes even had ankle-deep wet snow. We ski cut a few steep E and NE facing roll-overs and triggered some small rollerballs and pinwheels between 11 am and noon. It felt like the snow was getting wetter quickly, and we decided that it would be good to head out before deeper wet snow developed.