Found a shallower snowpack here than other areas. Because it was shallow, it was weaker and facets near the ground were still a red flag. Also we observed significant wind transport, mainly at ridge tops and forming wind slabs on top of a faceted snow surface. With facets underneath them, wind slabs will be very sensitive.

The run called Bonkers had avalanched just before Christmas and we felt comfortable ascending the debris pile and bed surface until we saw just how much snow the winds were transporting and how quickly they were reloading the starting zone of Bonkers. We turned around then observed a wind slab release and spill over cliffs onto the Bonkers run. It wouldn't have been enough to bury or hurt a person but plenty to scare the %#$# out of you.

We dug pits on both E and W faces. Neither looked good in terms of structure. Both propagated fractures readily but with varying amounts of force. I would have been pretty nervous with this snowpack with a heavy load of wind blown snow on it.