Witcher

They say that a picture is worth a thousand words, and I'm running out of words to talk about the variable surface conditions, so here's several pictures. 

The surfaces are variable, and the snowpack here is shallower than elsewhere.

None observed.

Surfaces: East aspects held textured melt-freeze snow. It was either frozen or sloppy, with not much in between. North aspects held plates and panels of windboard, interrupted by ribbons and fields of near-surface facets.

HS at 7000ft was only 15-30cm, and at 10000ft, only 70-90cm. 

The structure is poor, and this snowpack is in bad shape to handle a new load.

I cut an ECT in some north-facing windboard, and it failed on isolation. 10cm of knife-hard windboard failed on top of 30cm of 3mm facets. The 1/1 crust is down 40cm at this aspect and elevation. This is not representative of current avalanche hazard, but it is indicative of poor structure in this area ahead of forecasted snow.