Beta on Hood Conditions

[Wesley Witt]

Does anyone have recent beta on conditions for the high mountain areas, specifically the hogsback moving up and through the pearly gates? The avy conditions & weather are looking favorable and we're considering a climb but would really like some current conditions data.

[ivan]

was up there this morning - the snow conditions are horrid for bipeds currently - super deep n' unconsolidated - folks bailing all over just a little bit above the top of the lift - if you go, take skis as snowshoes weren't that much of an improvement!

[jeremyl]

Anyone been up more recently? Hoping to run up Reid Sat AM and wondering if things are still too soft.

[Teleconvert]

I probably posted this on the wrong thread a few minutes ago, but here is the update from 1-1:

 

A group of us climbed up on New Year's day with the hopes of summiting. We got to the hogsback and dug a pit on the east side of the hogsback just below the bergschrund. We were hoping to skin or climb up the old chute- no one had done it recently, and the snow looked inviting. It was a little late in the day, around 2 PM. We planned on digging two pits because of the way the aspect changes as you traverse and ascend. The second pit wasn’t necessary- we got a CT 11 Q2 on the first pit at about 8-10 inches down. Interestingly, we also got a Q1 2.5 to 3 feet down, but it was well past CT 30. Our thinking was that it would take a lot to get that layer to go, but if it did go, it would be quite catastrophic. The CT 11 layer was a no go (in our opinion) as well, so we skied down the lower angle side of the hogsback to Devil’s Kitchen, and down from there. I was personally surprised because the snowpack had a chance to settle over a few days with no new snow, but with a CT 11 we skedaddled.