We did Mount Ann, last week, on Thursday. Very little snow at Austin Pass. Trail was mostly snow free all the way to Lake Ann. Northern aspects of Mount Ann were pretty snowy above 4500 ft and I’d guess there was 2 feet of so on Ann’s summit ridge. I was going to do a TR but I didn’t get around to it.
I went to welcome pass and along the ridge for a ways yesterday, got up to about 6k. It was covered but not very deep, but icy in some places. I was fine in my trail runners with micro spikes.
Not that much snow. None to 3000', gradually increasing to 7" of new at 5400'. Above 5000' in particular there is an old snow layer that is rock hard on southern aspects and a miserable breakable crust with foot penetration to about 8" on shadier aspects. Though we didn't go there, there is likely 2' total on north aspects at 5400'. Skiing would be awful.
Unless warm snow/rain falls this will become a dangerous avalanche layering structure; hard with sugar on top. It will likely be most problematic at higher elevations on cooler slopes particularly on the east slopes of the Cascades. A good sized storm layer would slide like banshees.
Perhaps on high on the east slopes of the range the hard layer will already be, or soon be depth hoar.
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