Need more moose. Lots more.

Skied (and hiked...) in the southern Flathead Range, looking for the surface hoar and near-surface facets over crust reported from the Whitefish Range Thursday. Status check on PS problem.

• 2" fluffy new snow during the day, sitting on various crusts up to about 7000 feet. No sign of surface hoar or NSF between crusts and new snow. Weak snow below crust but didn't poroduce alarming failures in tests. 
• The new snow sluffed easily on the crust in steep terrain, though it posed no danger because there wasn't enough of it. Good indicator of potential problem with more new and/ or drifted snow.
• The solstice rain crust exists up to about 5900 feet, where it thins from up to 5 cm thick to about 1 cm thick.
• Above 5900 feet, the snow surface (on southerly aspects) prior to today was a sun crust from Sunday 12/22. variable in thickness and distribution - thinner and less common southeasterly slopes, thicker and more widespread on southerly slopes.
• Apart from the sluffs, no signs of instability on sunny 35* slopes 6-7000 ft. The Nov. 19 crust/ facets did not fail in large or small column tests except a deep tap test (most of slab removed). 
• Managed to skin from/ ski down to about 5000 feet. Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. 
• Hiking trail packed snow and ice. Bring shoe chains or ski crampons.