Flagpole

By noon about an inch of snow had fallen at the base of Flagpole Peak. I explored between Flagpole and  Echo peaks and found still wet old snow under about an inch of new snow which was mostly graupel. I  observed quite a bit of cracking in the old partially frozen old crust. As I gained elevation, skinning was difficult as the crust became more stout, and the new snow slid off of it easily. Winds were consistently strong, and gusts were intense and blowing tons of snow; the direction was mostly from the north. At higher elevations, there was about 1-2 inches of new snow. This new snow was uncohesive and not bonding to the old crust. On my descent, I observed very minor loose, dry behavior in the new snow.