Snoqualmie Mountain, West ridge notch entrance to Thunder Creek Cirque

Quick report

Bailed on descending off the west ridge into the Thunder Creek Cirque due to obvious wind texture (S and SW aspect, 5200ft) and fairly substantial cornicing. Hand pits at the saddle revealed about 6-8 inches of slab that was highly reactive, failing with little instigation on the 1/10 interface. Traversing the west ridge toward the sub peak to the North we found that while the poorly bonded slab still existed it was not failing in bulk under human loading even in steeper terrain and convex features in relatively open slopes with SW aspect. Maybe this is due to the tree anchors in proximity or wind compaction. Photo of Snoqualmie Mountain NW face with West ridge notch to the right.