Purple Ridge

We skied through untraveled terrain near Purple Ridge ( up to about 11,000 feet) with a fair bit of wind-affected snow, looking for feedback.  We did not experience any collapsing or cracking, even as we moved from wind-eroded features to drifted terrain on mostly easterly-facing slopes.  Below treeline the snowpack seems quiet in this area and appears to be at equilibrium for the most part.  Even though snowpack tests didn't indicate trouble, I couldn't rule out an isolated terrain feature with extensive drifting producing a slab avalanche.  At the lowest elevations on very steep, shady slopes, Dry Loose avalanches are slowly becoming a problem worth monitoring.

We traveled on mostly easterly aspects through 11,000 feet without signs of instability.  Snowpack tests didn't produce results on the January or December dryspell layers.  We crossed a handful of recent drifts on sunny east or southeast features without collapse, but the crusts were thin enough that I couldn't rule out an isolated avalanche on a slope with just the right ingredients.  There is no shortage of weak snow in the pack, but slabs seem to be the isolated ingredient below treeline.  Snow surfaces provided reasonably good snow quality in between patches of windboard.