J.Kucera

Started the annual pilgrimage to surprise pass a tad early this year and even though its skiable; I’m hard pressed to say its “in.” -15 at car. Trail to saddle is in good shape. Southern aspect of Mt. Fairview had plenty of sun by 10am and snow was getting a bit heavy despite temps of -10. Some evidence of older size 1 dry-loose avalanches on the southern aspect but nothing recent. Top of col is still rocky for the first 15m and required side stepping. Mid section (2450-2300m) had approx 20cm of fresh snow on top of the Nov 5 bulletproof crust layer. The Fresh snow was less than fist density and sloughing but it was manageable. After that short section there was considerably less fresh snow (5-10cm) with the same hard crust which became increasingly breakable the lower we got. -9 to finish the day. Ultimately we had a great day with nice weather, hard to complain for November ski touring but I would give this one more time to shape up.