While skinning in Upper Middle Cirque I encountered old, hard, wind drifted snow. These drifts were at least 2-3 days old, probably formed Friday night into Saturday when there was a bump in the Southerly winds. Older drifts are generally harder to trigger, but this gave me some concern today. As I walked onto it from below, I heard the classic hollow, drum like sounds. With a hand shear I was able to pull the slab out with Moderate force and a Q2 shear. I found small grain facets (0.5mm) beneath the slab (down 29cm). These are the first facets I have seen in a while. I dug a hasty pit several hundred feet below this one and I did not find this structure, no wind slab and no facets. This seems like an isolated problem in Northerly aspects ATL. Certainly something to be aware of, as I know people have been getting into some extreme terrain lately. Keep an eye out for areas of wind drifted snow, if you find it, dig down and look for facets.

This is on a NE aspect at 11,750 ft. Slope angle is 36 degrees.