Quick report
The snow was much softer while skinning up from Chains End but proved very firm once I left the highway and accessed the NE facing slope. I left a very shallow track to no track evidence despite the warm temperature (48F). The snowpack had heavily drifted where I dug the pit and was about double the depth of the nearby SW facing slope where I had dug a few days prior. The weak persistent layers from the Christmas crust and early/mid February remain but are more stubborn to trigger (ECTX). The snow below the Christmas crust to the ground was softer, so beware of larger slides on steeper slopes (particularly on warm days as meltwater enters the snowpack and disrupts the layers).