Quick report
Took a long tour into a new area for this season. Overall found stable conditions with main hazards being loose snow sluffs, heat induced wet point releases, thin snow cover and thick brush. My partner and I bailed on our objective for the day when we saw low snow conditions in the steep rocky technical terrain that had naturally avalanched during the most recent storm cycle. Quick hand shears and digging to the crust layer showed a clean break just above the crust. We did not experience any collapses or cracking, but the 2 part recent storm had a slight punchy feel to it-breaking below the first impulse of snow. We decided to maximize quality of snow over line choice. Thinner than average conditions in a remote location on known rocky slopes didn’t seem to sense make for us today and we practiced the art of bailing. As a result, we snuck in a 2nd lap in stellar ski conditions in protected terrain.
Avalanche
Saw a few natural sluffs from the most recent storm in shady terrain of western aspects, mostly smaller D1 in size. Did see 1 natural wind slab release in due north terrain that was loaded from the southern winds. Also noted small point releases in east and west aspects from the previous days sun, And we were able to trigger loose snow sliffs in steep terrain in shady aspects.