Went to Spider Bowl today because at 2 degrees, it was the warmest mountain weather station in our forecast region. Was great to finally see enough snow down low to make access easier, albeit deep. Dug a WNW pit at 5,800’. HS 255. ECTX. Groundhog day crust was 100cm deep and was bonded well to the snow above. Facets below the crust were holding strength. Amazingly the winds were light at the sub ridge top but moderate at mid elevations. The first 500’ of the bowl were light and deep, then the snow turned a bit heavier and slabby with small shooting cracks on turns. The gully at the bottom of spider bowl was getting significant wind loading, and looked downright scary. We traversed above and enjoyed great, stable powder skiing. From the ridge, we could see either a glide crack or a crown on a SW face to the north (attached photo). My hunch was glide crack. No avalanches were observed. The Swan crest was getting spanked with NE winds, making things look a bit foggy with airborne snow.
