Observation: Catherine's Pass

Curiosity and lack of recent obs had us curious today, though it was about as firm as we expected out there. The incoming cold air, moderate winds, and cloud cover limited much of any softening of the snow surface outside of ski area grooming. Deeper north/east aspects were edgeable cycled snow and generally slide-for-life but manageable at slow speeds where the snow surface was smooth and free of tracks. Lots of old tracks and texture on south/west aspects as a result of much of the past few days' melt. With some softening there's probably some decent corn skiing still to be had up high, but today wasn't it.

Travel was generally OK but it's worth noting that in shallower, rocky areas if you manage to break through the crust at the surface, you're quickly wallowing in rotten snow. Other than a few turns, skis kept us on top of the M/F crust, but booting around quickly sank 70+cm to dirt/rocks.