Frigid sounds

Skinned up towards feather bowl. Initially we were quite optimistic about ride quality as the snow underfoot was soft and fluffy, buckle deep pow. We noticed some signs of slabbiness around the notch in the gully on the way up. As we approached the back bowl, we noticed some more consolidation in the surface snow. We then had some shooting cracks and quite a few large whoompfs. We didn't stick around to investigate because it was frigid. It was an easy decision to turn back and ski mellow slopes on the way out. This would have been more fun on freshly waxed skis that would glide on the cold, dry snow more easily. Beautiful but frigid day out.