Powderhouse

From Hwy 89 on Luther Pass looking up towards the 9380 foot peak of Powderhouse I could just barely see some snow sticking the trees at the very top. Skinning up the snow was wet until approximately  8300' when an impressive breakable crust emerged that continued to approximately 8600.' Above that there was either an inch or two of new snow or firm rain crust. The winds appeared to have blasted some of the upper slopes, so gaining elevation didn't necessarily mean there was more soft snow. The open ridge near the summit held some soft snow but also firm rain crust or possibly it was a clear rime layer. It was tough to tell and none of it skied that great. I couldn't produce any significant cracking or signs of instability in the wind slab test slopes that I kicked and jumped on. Looking over towards the back bowls of Stevens and Little Roundtop I couldn't see any evidence of avalanche activity.