North Shoulder of Blackmore

Went for a quick lap on the Blackmore shoulder to check out conditions up higher in Hyalite. Temps hung in the upper 30s/low 40s with overcast skies and light gusting moderate SW winds throughout our tour.

- Dug a quick pit @9650' on a 27deg SE slope (65cm total depth) and found a mixed bag of well-developed fist-hard facets with a couple of pencil-hard melt-freeze crusts mixed in with ~10cm of decomposing new snow on the surface. The faceted layer from 20-40cm contains grains that are striated and 2-4mm in size, with some forming small chains. Test results: ECTN13@53cm and CT12PC@53cm on facets below a pronounced 4cm thick MF crust.
- Took a peek on the northerly aspect as well and found far more spatially variable snow depths, and more wind-effected surface conditions. The stratigraphy was relatively more simple with soft-to-hard slabs (hardness and thickness depending on location) sitting atop well-developed fist hard facets.
- Spatial variability seems to be the name of the game with snow depths and wind slab formation, but the lower ~40cm of well-developed facets seems pretty darn widespread... bummer!