Elk Mountain pre-storm obs

We had a moderate stuckfest in deep powder today on our way up to Elk Mountain. Deep trailbreaking followed! Even once we gained the ridge we were lucky to find our storm snow had not seen significant wind effect in the days since our last big dump of snow. Digging into the snowpack, we were equally pleased to find snowpack tests showing good bonds forming at our recent storm interfaces. Surveying surface snow on our ascent, we only saw small (6-8mm) surface hoar in sheltered areas. The low density snow it sits on, which forms the surface elsewhere, makes us optimistic for another good bond forming as forecast snow settles on it over the next few days.