Powder House Peak

Our party of (3); myself, Tyler, and Mr. Tom started our ascent to Water House Peak at 0730. Our goal was to start conservatively and feel out for more terrain. Temp was 8F with sunshine to start. Around noon cloud cover was present and the sun was no longer out. Winds were around 15-20mph at the top. We felt good with conditions at Water House descent and decided to ascend Powder House. When we arrived at noon we were not the first however, our descent route was. A test slope showed no release. We also did a snow pit that showed favorable snow pack and our CT did not fracture. The shovel tilt board test did release (with force) ~(45cm from top) after the CT test. We think this layer is a lull in the most recent storms. Our party felt confident and decided to take the skiers left route down. We all released dry slough on the descent. On an isolated slope we observed a wind slab crack under skis. This was ~6cm down and presently warming in the sun. Propagation was minimal. For us this was not a huge concern. We had obstacles to avoid and skiers right of Powder House is still filling in. Cliff outs are present. I would also like to say that our group took a calculated risk. Please take a buddy into avalanche prone terrain.

Quick report