Quick report
We arrived on the floor of the ravine around 9.30am, with an overcast sky and moderate winds. We observed significant wind load on Chute, The Lip, and Sluice, with wind slabs of moderate but not insignificant size. Our plan was to ski Lobster Claw, which looked less loaded from afar, with the exception of small pockets of wind-transported snow below rock formations. We donned sharps and started our ascent. We performed three hand shear tests at different altitudes while ascending. They all showed a paper thin sun crust (likely from the day before, January 8) easily breaking away from a (~5cm) underneath, followed by a 1F layer that slid off the 12/29 rain crust. We observed faceting above this melt-freeze layer. The older wind slab layer was more stubborn to release, and broke off planarly. It had different heights in the three different tests, ranging from about 8cm to about 20cm. When we arrived shortly below where the claw splits around 11am, we transitioned, and skied down. When we reached the floor again around 11.30am, the winds were significantly stronger, and we observed intense wind transport from the West over the Ravine and on Boott Spur. We then skied the little gully between the vegetation just straight down Left, after having been told by another party that the apron had a very variable surface. We found a similar surface, a mix of wind pockets and wind-scoured snow, on the gully. We saw other parties skiing Sluice and Right Gully.