1/4-3/8”, knife hard freezing rain crust all the way to 7,200 feet in the upper WF range north of coal creek. We had a glaze of ice on the snowmobiles just west of WF and it only got worse. At 4,400’ at the start of the skin track, it was pervasive at the valley bottom. We thought it would disappear with elevation, but it never went away and even thickened between 6,000-7000’. Conversation on the skin track was impossible from the crunching. I think it was a freezing rain event because of the way it accumulated on alders and trees at low elevations (see photo). The breakable crust made for very difficult skiing that literally bruised shins on turns. The sun came out and we saw no signs of old slides. An intentional cornice drop was comical as the whole thing broke and just slid on the crust layer intact. Without strong bonding with the next storm, things will get scary with the next slab. The crust was at all elevations and all aspects, although we did not get onto any truly N facing slopes.
