Winter, where have you been all winter? Cold, breezy at times, and the alpine terrain was obscured by S1+ snowfall throughout the day. Up to 35cm of storm snow since Monday, with 5cm of new from overnight. Total HS was averaging about 2 meters near tree line (at this same location on this date in 2019 the HS was 420cm). No wind effect to speak of and minimal cornice growth on pass. Pleasantly surprised to find the new snow had bonded well to the old snow surface. Snow profile in sheltered glade on a north facing slope yielded one surprising result below the pencil hard dirty melt freeze crust- CT24 SC down 45cm on 1.5mm rounding facets. No propagation in subsequent tests. No signs of instability in the area. Exited by 13:30.