New Snow and Wind on Incline Lake Peak

Mid to low level clouds in the Incline Lake Peak area this morning with 3-4'' of new storm snow.  Snow tapered off during the late morning hours but slightly picked up again midday, with another 1-2'' of accumulation.  Snow levels seemed to be consistent through the day on the way up and down the pass in the 7500' range.  Storm snow was high density and was deposited on top of a crust on solar aspects and on top of soft snow on northerly aspects.  Cracking around skis was common with the new snow not bonding well to the old snow surface in many areas.  Snowpack tests showed some weakness at this new snow/old snow interface and within the older recent storm snow on top of the firm surface crust on northerly aspects.  ECT's did not show that propagation was likely and informal observations showed little else in the way of instabilities.  SW winds were moderate to strong and transporting light amounts of snow.  Wind slabs were small, 3-6'' deep, not well developed, and were not reactive to ski cuts or cornice kicks on wind loaded test slopes.