Quick report
The snow at upper elevations was dry enough that our main concern was wind slab. We dug a quick pit at 5800’ to assess risk and found ~4” of snow on top of the last ice layer. Nothing failed during the column test though pulling on the column after the fact sheared at the base and the top 4”. It seemed like castle was mostly wind scoured rather than wind loaded. No issues were observed during the skin up though there was high wind and it is possible that the south side of Castle was in the process of being wind loaded as we skied it. The Castle saddle has slid previously (and it was possible to hit old ice chunks if not paying attention) but no issues were observed on the descent. There were also large crowns visible east of castle (likely from at least a couple days ago) and several wet loose (also likely at least a day old).
Avalanche
Wet loose— castle south side and north side east of castle Several large crowns observed east of castle on north side I don’t believe any of them occurred today— they looked to be from the last several days warming cycle.