Supportable Melt-Freeze Conditions on Silver Peak

Last night's colder temperatures and clear skies allowed the snowpack's upper 6-8 inches to refreeze in the Silver Peak area. We noticed this crust softening in sunny areas below 7400 ft by 10:00. It stayed firm at the upper elevations until about 11 am. We dug through the crust on a SE aspect at 7900ft and found 2+ ft of wet snow below this crust. By 11:30 am, 1-2 inches of soft wet snow had formed on the E-SE-S aspects at all elevations up to 8300 ft. By 12:30, the wet snow had become more widespread but only measured 1-3 inches in depth. The melt-freeze crust below the wet snow was still supportable when we departed the area at 1 pm.

While we did not see any signs of unstable wet snow today, we did see debris from wet loose activity that happened on previous days. We also saw recent cornice collapses on nearby peaks along the Sierra Crest.