Wind Loading

My only concern in the areas was some of the fresh wind deposits on steep slopes along the upper ridges. We backed off going up one steeper ridge because of shallow, cracking, stiff wind drifts. It looked like many skiers and boarders were riding the wind slabs without triggering anything so it seems like they are settling out but combined with the steep, high-consequence terrain (lots of trees to hit) it kind of spooked me. We found lots of good turning on non-windloaded terrain. I was out for a day with friends so I did not take the time to dig any pits but probed with my ski pole for much of the day and the underlying snow seemed fairly solid and settled. Lots of surface hoar on the surface and the clear skies and cold temperatures are faceting all the surface snow on to of the rain crust so we will really have to pay attention to this layer after it gets buried.