Stairstep and just below Arkose

We returned to Stairstep today to see the havoc that last week's winds did to the mountains south of the Little Su. Many slopes were scoured to the ground or down to the 01/26 crust. We found unreactive old wind slabs in an upper elevation cross-loaded gully. In this gully, we found only about 1-2' feet of snow on the ground. We found no buried weak layers near the ground, just a firm slab of snow above the heather below. 

We chose not to climb the last pitch to the ridge because this slope was more wind-affected with exposed rocks in the start zone, and we were suspicious of this slope holding old snow near the ground. 

Last week's winds did some damage to the peaks south of the Little Su. Many slopes were scoured back to bare ground on the windward and leeward aspects. The only saving grace was the 01/26 crust, preventing some slopes from facing the same fate. We found isolated pockets of wind slabs that were glued to the crusts below, and in hand pits, could not be moved. On an N-facing slope near 3500', we found only about 1 to 2 feet of snow above the ground and found no buried weak layers here, just one homogenous slab top to bottom.