Totally dry as of 07 FEB 09, packed snow on the Denny/Delaney trail suitable for bootpacking, snowshoeing, and skiing up to Yale. Skiers had skinned up to the aspen stand and skiied back. Snowshoes were an advantage to the party ahead of us on the steep slope that leads up to tree line at 12,000‘. Hard slab snow/stastrugi didn‘t require snowshoes on the slopes above 12,000 ft if traveled perpendicular to the wind.
All S-SW facing snow went isothermic and faceted by 2PM that day and we had 3 foot postholes from 12,000 to 11,500 feet on decent. Trail under tree cover remained passable by foot.
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