About 12 to 18 inches, depending upon where you happened to step.
Luckily, there was a trench already made–likely from yesterday afternoon as the storm was winding down–by a dog, a hiker or two, and some hardy-lucky bloke or blokette who skied down from the summit in the fresh powder.
Very cold weather hint: Wear two pairs of gloves. First, a thin inner glove you can use to manipulate the camera controls, change lenses, and so on. Then, over these, a mondo-thick pair to really keep out the cold. Whenever you take off the mondos, put that heavy glove inside your jacket to keep it warm. The thin gloves will then temporarily keep you from freezing your dainty digits off until you finish pushing buttons and can put the mondos back on.
Extra tip at no charge: Never lick a metal camera body or lens when the temps drop below zero.
Have fun!
The trench, as seen on the way down, after the fan-plasmic sunrise:
The gauge showed nine degrees Fahrenheit at the trailhead parking area, so maybe a bit less on the summit…with the occasional northwest breeze coming through to keep me from sweating.
The transition from pre-dawn to sunrise was worth the discomfort (and the 4:50a.m. wakeup).
A few images of the visual show:
Nicely done Daniel!